Under the Bed
by Taijiya Mizu
Summary: It’s a little hard to sleep at night, especially when there’s murders happening. Kai and Miguel come face-to-face with this creature, but will they keep their wits against the boogeyman? Full Summary Inside Complete
1. Things that Go Bump in the Night

**Title**: Under the Bed

**Category**: Beyblade; chapter

**Summary**: It's a little hard to sleep at night, especially when there's murders happening all around. Who is able to avoid leaving any evidence? Only something that's been at this for years. Kai and Miguel come face-to-face with this evil creature, but will they be able to keep their wits about them when he's killing their closest friends left and right? How about when he decides to turn the torture onto them? Who will be able to survive the massacre set up by the one and only boogeyman?

**Pairing**: Miguel/Kai, Bryan/Tala; hints of: Lee/Ray, Tyson/Max, Kenney/Hillary, Claude/Mariah

**Warning**: animal torture, language, sadism, shounen-ai, suggestive themes, torture, violence

**Rating Warning**: On standard TV rating (which I am going by for this), this fic will be rated PG-13 to R if not over due to the violence, torture, and language used. I do not suggest anyone who does not like horror movies/fics, suspense, or gore to read this. You have been warned, and if you continue to read and have a few things wrong with the story against the warnings, I cannot be blamed or held accountable. That is my disclaimer for the rating.

**Other Notes**: I don't really know where this fic came from in my mind. I guess it's been a while since I even thought about writing a dark-themed fic. Well, this one tops anything I've ever thought about. I wish I had the patience to hold this until Halloween, but I can't. So, you'll just have to read it again around Halloween for a good, scary, freaky fic. Please don't think I'm some sort of sadistic person who gets a rise out of other people's pain because I'm not. Everyone is entitled to writing a gory fic every now and then. Good for the soul....and brain muscles. ^^ Also, this fic is slightly based upon the song: "Boogie Woogie Wu" by ICP (Insane Clown Possie). I blame my best friend/big sister for letting me listen to the song. I never would have because of the group's name. Who loves insane clown possies? Not me.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Beyblade or the idea of the Boogeyman. We all know he exists somewhere out there, whether real life or just in our minds. Therefore, I had no part in creating this being.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Under the Bed

-Things that Go Bump in the Night-

-S-S-S-S-S-

_The beast lives out in the raging storm. In the dead of night, the ravenous blood-sick creature searches for its sacrifice. Through the hideous darkness it lurches, driven by death itself. Only the satisfaction of slaughter will cause it to return to the darkness from which it came._

- "Boogie Woogie Wu" by ICP

-S-S-S-

Lightning cracked, thunder rolled, neither comparing to the thrum of rain upon the window of a moving bus. The roaring sound seemed to echo throughout the vehicle, even over the loud conversations of the passengers. Time seemed to slow down, none of the occupants in any hurry to leave the dry interior. Excitement mixed in with anticipation of the previous and next tournament which was close by, courtesy of the Beyblade Battle Association, or BBA. The sport of beyblade was new to the game as opposed to the rest of the age-old sports. Originally, the use of spinning tops was a game for young children as the way to pass time, and by adults, it was a deadly weapon, utilizing the sharply created tops to attack their enemies in battle, as much as any sword or axe could. During the past ten years, it had become a rather popular sport, organizations creating tournaments for any and all who were able to pass the preliminaries. Many teams entered the tournaments, but only a select few get chosen for the championships, held once a year. Only one team, though, could be crowned champion. Only one team, also, had the highest record to beat, or rather one person of the team had the highest record of championships to beat.

The team started out as the Bladebreakers, but after two years, they changed their name to G-Revolution, stating that they had changed and renewed their way of life for beyblade. The members included Tyson Granger, the three-time champion of the world of beyblade, Max Tate, Ray Kon, and Kai Hiwatari, team leader. Their strategist, only known as Kenney or Chief, had also been with them for the past three years. They also added a new member to the team: a young boy named Daichi. Red-headed, feisty, but innocent all around, he made up for the childish nature that the team once had. Of course, he was a bundle of energy, too.

G-Revolution wasn't the only famous team on the bus that night. Two members from the Blitzkrieg Boys were there as well as one member from White Tiger-X. Of course the handsome leader of the Battalion - once called Barthez Battalion - was also on the bus. His soft, blonde hair and equally as charming blue eyes were the second most attracting thing on the bus, and his name was just so erotic: Miguel Lavalier. Who would be able to hear that name and not go into a frenzy?

Alright, I had to take a right on Vain Street, didn't I?

I stretched my back a bit, feeling the cracking in-between my shoulder blades and instantly relieved from the pressure that had been building up. Maybe the others didn't want to get off the bus, but I sure did. Being stuck on a vehicle for the past five - almost six - hours did not sit well with me. I was so bored, I was starting to go back onto Vain Street. As I looked out the window, I saw the words "Vain Street" on the green and white sign. I sighed, not really believing my luck, put down my finished book, and looked around. Everyone was spread out, each one with his or her consecutive partners or friends.

Tyson and Max laughed and joked with Hillary and Kenney. Yes, Tyson, after three years, finally asked Max out on a date. It was awkward for each of them for they didn't want to ruin their friendship, but after being locked in a closet by Hillary and my teammate Matilda, they eventually got over their shyness.

Kenney and Hillary quit beating around the bush two months before, Hillary gaining the courage to kiss the Chief at a party one night. It was really quite cute when Kenney started stumbling around with stars in his eyes.

I had been told that Ray and Lee had been dating for the past three years, ever since they made up their differences in China during the Bladebreakers' first go around. They were good for each other, if anyone dared to ask me.

Tala and Bryan made up the middle section of the small bus. According to Kai and Spencer, one of which was not on the vehicle, they had been going out for some time, since ten years old, I believe. Long time, if anyone asked me.

Unfortunately, my team wasn't able to make it on the bus. There just wasn't enough room in the small contraption for them, the rest of White Tiger-X, and even Spencer had to get on another bus. He was too tall. No joking, there. I had tried to stand up a few hours earlier to stretch a Charlie-horse in my calf and ended up banging my head against the top of the steel thing. The headache wouldn't go away after that.

As I continued to gaze about the vehicle, seeming to find that my only source of entertainment for the time being, my blue eyes landed on the figure next to me. He was staring out the window, listening, no doubt, to the sound of the rain. His violet eyes were soft, face relaxed as opposed to his posture which sat properly in the poorly cushioned seat. The book he was reading to catch up on his business class back at the university sat, discarded, in his lap, finger marking his page. I watched as his exotic eyes blinked behind those messy slate-blue locks of hair that made up his bangs. His head turned to where his gaze met mine. Obviously, he knew I was watching him. On the outside, his face didn't change, but his eyes hardened slightly to a questioning look. I just smiled a little and grabbed his free hand with mine, interlacing our fingers together. His hands were slightly chilled from the cool temperature of being near the window, but they quickly warmed in my own.

The phoenix next to me glanced at our hands and let a small, nervous smile grace his lips, trying to ignore the light pink forming along his cheeks. He was still getting used to our relationship.

Yes, I said relationship. Take that, fangirls!

I had asked Kai out a few weeks after a small get-together Tyson and his family hosted a few months ago - five months after the fall of BEGA. At the get-together, which lasted an entire two weeks, Kai and I had to share a room and had actually gotten quite close, considering neither of us liked large crowds and spent most of the time in our room. Afterwards, I had been slightly busy with the team and getting Barthez completely out of the picture. So, I hadn't been able to ask Kai anything, but we still kept in touch because I needed the help with court cases and such. Kai had offered his expertise from him dealing with his deranged grandfather, and I took it. We, of course, talked about a bit more than just the case. So, when my team and I returned to Japan, I asked him on a date. I was more than surprised when he agreed. He was slightly reluctant, not really knowing how to deal with a relationship, but I guess that was why he wasn't with anyone at the time. No one had taken the time or patience out to work with him about that. I had, and boy, was it worth the wait. I moved in with him two months ago in a decent apartment in Japan. It was nice. No, we hadn't exactly gotten to "that" stage in our relationship, yet, due to previous experiences on both of our accounts. We decided it would be worth the wait.

I squeezed his fingers in reassurance, leaning back to get more comfortable. He scrunched his nose in contemplation, eying my shoulder with that steady, yet wavering, gaze. Switching his sight to my blues, he asked a question without even speaking. I smiled, nodding. All he wanted was to lay his head on my shoulder as he looked out at the rain. How could I say no to him? He was so cute and adorable. Of course, I'd never say that to his face. I'm not that under warranty that he wouldn't belt me for the comment. He sighed a little in relief, switching his seated position to where it was more comfortable to lay his head on my shoulder. I sighed myself, resting my own cheek against those wild locks, inhaling his equally wild scent that was purely Kai.

We stayed that way before Mr. Dickenson stood up from his seat in the front of the bus. "Boys and girls," he started, and it took all I had to keep Kai where he was, "I'm afraid that we are going to have to stop for the night, or until the weather lets up. There is an inn a few miles down the road that I've been on the phone with. They have rooms waiting for all of you."

Everyone agreed to stopping. Some were just starting to feel anxious about the on-going thunderstorm that seemed to be getting worse. I personally wanted out of the bus so I could stretch and walk around. Conversations began again as the older man sat down back in his seat, no doubt getting ready to call the other beyblade teams at the hotel we were supposed to have stayed that night.

"I don't see why people get scared because of a thunderstorm," Kai mumbled next to me.

I watched him for a bit, his head still on my shoulder. "Well, not everyone is as brave as you are," I teased, smirking a little to let him know I was joking.

He snorted as he caught my look. "Well, they should be. It would make things go a lot smoother."

I chuckled. That was like Kai to have the last word when it came to banter. I once watched as he and Tala, another champion at banter, go at it. Tala had been dared by Tyson and Kai had been dared by Johnny of the Majestics. No one expected them to do it, but with the promise of silence from the two for an entire twenty-four hours, who wouldn't comply? Needless to say, their banter contest lasted for an entire three hours, my Kai winning because Tala hadn't been able to come up with a retort within the time limit: five seconds.

Johnny didn't speak for twenty-four hours after that, and was it bliss.

No one ever dared the Russians again, though it was quite amusing. Then again, Kai was getting flustered which caused a deep blush to spread from his collar bone to his cheeks and ears. I happen to have enjoyed that little detail.

What? My phoenix looked cute blushing.

It wasn't long before we arrived at the inn, and I'd be damned if it wasn't the creepiest, almost run-down place on the planet. Kai frowned as the building came closer, seeming to trust the place as far as he would be able to throw it. It was a ten-story building, give or take, an ugly gray that would have been a forest green sometime in the twenties - 1820's that is. It took on a slightly Southern American Victorian style mixed with the English Gothic cathedral. Vines of different shades and species ventured up the rustic walls. The shrubs and trees on the property would have looked very pleasing at one point, but the lands were too far gone to even think about doing anything with them. The only modern part of the entire place was the parking lot and drive-up, both made of aged concrete that definitely needed patching up as we bounced around, hitting pothole after pothole.

"You have got to be kidding me," Lee commented, nose wrinkled in distaste as he gaze out of the window in the seat in front of us.

"Exactly what I was thinking," I agreed, squeezing Kai around the waist as he tensed, feeling both the lion and tiger's eyes glancing at him, the house, and me. Everyone else outside our relationship were also getting used to Kai and me being together, even though it had been four months. They were so sure they had Kai figured out to be the cold hearted loner of the beyblading world, and were they ever wrong.

I got to see a side of Kai Hiwatari that no one else outside his immediate friends saw - which only included Tala and Bryan (Spencer wasn't on the list due to several reasons unknown by me yet). He put on the tough-guy front all day, every day, but at night and in privacy, he seemed a completely different person. Soft spoken, fragile yet strong, openly caring and emotional. He laughed, joked, cried, everything when we were together. Yes, he was a person; he was human. I loved our private moments with just the two of us. Sometimes, I wished that he would be more open out in public, that way I wouldn't have to knock someone flat every time they said something cold about him, but in a way, I didn't want him to. I felt special that it was just me who saw this side of Kai. Eventually, I knew he'd open up to the others, but I enjoyed being the only one until then.

"This place looks like it's been condemned for the past hundred years," Ray shook his head. "I'd much rather sleep on the bus than in there."

"I agree, Ray," Kenney piped up, and I could tell he was trembling. Scary situations were definitely not his forte.

Kai and I watched as Mr. Dickenson ran out into the hotel from Creepersville - excuse me, inn from Creepersville. Everyone stood up, slouching so as not to repeat my earlier performance, and getting their things together. I started to stand when the cool hand wrapped in my own stopped me. I looked back, spotting the worry in Kai's violet orbs.

"What's wrong, Kai?" I asked softly so that no one else would hear.

"There's something about this place. I think we need to convince Mr. Dickenson and the bus driver to keep on driving," he responded, glancing back and forth between me and the run-down inn.

I frowned, my brows scrunching together. Kai rarely had bad feelings that required him to comment on them. He normally kept them to himself or sidestepped around other's ideas as a way of keeping them out of trouble. He always had these feelings of good or bad. Tala called it his psychic ability. Kai called it instinct. Whatever it was, he was always right.

I nodded to him. "Alright, when Mr. Dickenson gets back, we'll talk to him."

Kai returned the nod, biting his lip a little and crossing his arms and legs. He was worried, nervous even. I'd never seen him like that before. The whole situation put even me on edge.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Tyson asked. I realized that he noticed the way Kai was acting. "What'd ya say, Miguel?" His goofy grin eased the comment.

The corner of my mouth twitched a bit to let him know I got the joke, but the nervousness that Kai was feeling was rubbing off on me. Ray and Lee seemed to realize it as well.

"I think I know what's going on," Ray started, wrapping his arms around himself. "I don't wanna go in that place as much as anyone. It gives me the creeps."

I saw as Kai's violets connected with Ray's golds. A hidden meaning passed between them, and I began feeling a bit jealous. Lee's own orbs flashed my emotions. Don't get me wrong, I cared for the tiger as much as a brother would, but it was the boyfriend in me getting out. Kai and Ray had always been close - not as much as my phoenix and Tala, but still close. It seemed Ray and Max were the ones Kai got to know better than most and they him. All they had to do was share a look, and each one knew what the other was thinking or feeling. Ray and Max developed this tag team maneuver in order to keep my boyfriend from killing the three time World Champion many times.

So, yeah, it annoyed me greatly when they did that. Lee, too, I supposed.

As Mr. Dickenson came back on the bus before anything else about the house could be said, Ray, Kai, Lee, and I waved him to the back. The jolly, heavyset man smiled, his eyes twinkling in a concerned gleam. His dark orbs never left my phoenix as Kai spoke. It seemed if anyone could get Stanley A. Dickenson to agree to anything, it would be Kai.

"Mr. Dickenson," he stated formally, "we need to keep on moving."

Wow, blunt and to the point. That's my boy!

The elderly man blinked at the comment and sighed. "I know you all don't want to stay the night in something as this, but I assure you it's much nicer inside than out."

I heard my phoenix growl in frustration. Obviously, he wasn't making any grounds with this man's mind. Wonderful.

"What Kai means, Mr. D, is that there's something about this place that just doesn't set right," Ray complied. Nice save.

"By what do you mean, my boy?" Stanley's eyes went back to Kai who was starting to figit, violets catching something in one of the inn's windows.

"I mean, I don't have a good feeling about this. We need to leave. Now," he muttered, ever so slightly inching closer to me.

I locked eyes with Mr. Dickenson and nodded. "I agree with Kai. There's just something about this place that isn't right. I don't feel safe, and if Kai doesn't feel safe, then it's not, and I'm with him.

The older male took another look around at each of our faces and then back at the other six. Everyone was serious, even Tyson, and that was rare in itself. I think Hell froze over. He sighed, defeated. "Alright, I'll have a talk with the driver." He left.

I sighed, "Thank goodness."

Ray nodded at my statement. "I agree, but we're not outta the clear yet."

"What do you mean?" Hillary piped from the front of the bus. Everyone's attention was diverted onto us when we called Mr. Dickenson over.

"He means that something could come up that will keep us here," Kenney explained, and I saw Kai's brows furrow, his eyes spaced out in worry as he flicked his gaze to outside the window and the back of the seat in front of him. He was more than nervous. He looked like an animal caught in a cage for the first time with no way out.

Tala seemed to notice as well for he shifted in his seat just as I sat down to silently give Kai some comfort. "Kai, what's this place feel like?" Well, leave it to the ice wolf to bring up the million dollar question.

The entire bus went quiet.

My phoenix bit his lip again, unconsciously pressing in closer to my side. He switched his gaze to stare completely out the window at one of the windows. "Death."

"How bad?" Bryan inquired before anyone could panic. "Can we handle it?"

I noticed with much satisfaction that he was being serious, and that everyone else was too. It seemed I wasn't the only one who noticed that Kai's feelings were always right.

Slate hair shook in a negative. "Worse than anything I've ever come across. The abbey and the alleyways of Russia have nothing against this place. It's pure torture and pain." He watched a clerk from inside walk out and get the mail. "Even the people here know it." The man hesitated ever so slightly from entering back into the inn before doing so.

Tala and Bryan shared a look between them. "You know what it is?"

Kai turned to glare at the two, causing Tala to eep slightly. "I'm not psychic," he ground out.

I chuckled a little as my boyfriend let his two friends squirm under his gaze. Wrapping an arm around his waist, I felt his tension ease, and he sighed before turning back to the window, rain pouring in rivers down the outside glass.

"Excuse us for asking a question," Bryan muttered, and I used almost everything I had to keep my phoenix sitting. His hand searched mine and grasped it, squeezing tightly in an attempt to calm himself. I smiled at it. He had been looking to me for different forms of comfort for the past two months, and I was enjoying every minute of it.

Hey, it wasn't everyday that one could hold and love on a phoenix as wild as Kai Hiwatari himself.

Yes, I was a pervert. I was Spanish. I couldn't help it. It was in my blood.

Glancing out the window, I noticed Mr. Dickenson rushing out to the bus. He came up the metal steps and acknowledged us apologetically. My gut sank.

"I'm afraid you all are stuck here for the night. I've got a ride to the next town over to a business meeting. There are no hotels there, and I'll be staying at the building all night. The driver is also having to go to the next town. He's been called out, and other driver will be here in the morning to continue the drive."

"Take us with you, Mr. D.," Tyson pleaded. "We can sleep on the bus, promise!"

Everyone started agreeing with the navy haired blader, including me.

Mr. Dickenson raised up his hands. "Now, now, everyone," he started.

"There's no way we're staying here, Mr. D.," Max said, taking up with his boyfriend's idea.

Mr. Dickenson sighed and put on a steeled face. "Now, boys and girl, you don't have much of a choice but to stay here. It would be better for all of you to stay in a dry, warm place overnight, especially with this storm. A bus is no place for any of you. Now, collect your things and get on inside before this storm gets any worse." It was the grandfather tone. No one messed with the grandfather tone.

Kai full out glared at the older man. It wasn't often anyone saw the phoenix do such towards the elderly man. Only when it was dire that the Russian was listened to. He stood, grabbing his stuff and brushing passed me to the front to where he stood inches from Mr. Dickenson.

"I'm sorry, Kai, but-"

"Save it." He slid by the man and down the steps in one swoop. I watched him enter the inn without so much as a trace of fear or wariness.

Mr. Dickenson sighed and followed the G-Revolution leader inside. The rest of us grabbed our things and complied. As we entered the building, a chill ran over my spine. Brushing it off as the cold rain, I strode up to my boyfriend who stood in the middle of the front lobby, steel faced, back straight, postured rigid. I'd only seen him stand like that once before. That was when I actually caught sight of Voltaire Hiwatari, Kai's "grandfather." He had gotten out of prison as a form of visitation to his grandson they granted him. Kai stood so still and stiff I thought he'd turned to stone. That was, until he ordered Voltaire out of our home in front of the police officers. Voltaire had such a disgusted, disapproving gaze, I knew we'd never had to worry about him coming around again.

I stopped beside Kai and brushed my fingers along his hand, willing him to look at me. He closed his eyes in a slight prayer to calm himself before looking at me. Hurt was etched deep in those dark violets. I didn't blame him.

An older man came over just as Mr. Dickenson waved goodbye to us. We watched with heavy hearts as our only way away from the inn left with the bus driver.

"Welcome, kids. I'm the manager of the place. Call me Grant," his German accent was worse than Robert's from the Majestics. "Elda will show you to your rooms." He motioned to a young woman with short dark hair, her eyes just as dark and lifeless.

"I'm afraid," the manager went on, "that we have lost power a little while ago, and the back-up generators are malfunctioning, but each of your rooms has an oil lanturn for light. I hope you enjoy your stay. Breakfast will be served in the morning at seven should all go well. I'm afraid you just missed dinner."

"Awe man," Tyson grumbled from the back of the group. I smiled a little and wished Max the best of luck that night. A hungry Tyson was never a good thing.

"Follow me, please," Elda monotoned. We all picked up our bags and followed her to the stairs. Oh, wonderful. I knew I wanted to walk around a bit, but climbing stairs to an unknown level after sitting down for hours was not really what I had in mind.

We finally reached each of our rooms, Kai relaxing a bit due to the fact each room was either next to the other or across the hall. We were all in a confined area; which was a good thing considering the circumstances. We bid each other goodnight and ventured into our rooms.

I had to admit that Mr. Dickenson had been right about the interior. It was quite extraordinary. The four poster bed complete with canopy and sheets as deep red as velvet. Two dressers, one long horizontal complete with mirror, the other tall and vertical, were on each side of the room. The carpet was a dark red to compliment the sheets. Everything was accented with gold and green. Red silk roses adorned the bedside table and dressers. The walls were a deep gold, almost sandy brown. Red and gold vine work was the detailing at the top of the painted walls. There was a large window overlooking the lake in the back yard of the inn, perfect view of the mountains that we had just left as well. Crimson, thick curtains blocked the ugly clouds. An oil lamp was seated on one of the bedside tables. There was a door on the other side of the wall where the lengthy dresser sat that led to the cream and coffee colored bathroom.

It was beautiful, and Kai standing next to the window just made it even more beautiful.

I smiled softly at the scene and set my bag next to my boyfriend's on the bed and strode over to his side. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I rested my chin on his shoulder as we stared out at the rain. He sighed and relaxed in my embrace, leaning his head against mine. His fingers ventured to intertwine with my own at his stomach. We stayed like that for many minutes, just enjoying holding each other. I sighed again and kissed his neck under the high collar of his turtleneck. He moaned a bit and tilted his head to the side as I started nibbling and massaging that thrumming vein on the side of his neck with my tongue. My hand ventured underneath his long sleeved shirt to tease and press down on his bellybutton and abs.

Yes, my baby has a six-pack. Ha, ha.

Kai and I had never gone "that" far, but nothing said we never did anything but. I loved Kai. I had come to terms with that a while back. Kai and I had yet to say those words, not wanting to jynx our relationship, but I said it all the time in my mind. I knew he knew. He knew I knew. It was an underlying message between the two of us. I loved him in more ways than one. I loved him, and I loved his body. Who couldn't? I would never take it as far as my libido wanted without his consent. It had taken us four months for us to get to the stage just before sex, and that was after living with each other for two. I wanted him, yes, but I wasn't going to push it.

So, when I finished torturing his neck, all the way to that adorable, sexy Adam's apple, I stopped.

He stood, slightly limp in my arms, and I watched him. His face was red with passion, and it took all I had not to ravage him right there on the cushioned window sill. His dark, dark violet eyes locked with mine. Soft, enticing. Gods above, I loved him so much, but if he didn't stop looking at me like that, I was going to explode!

"Miguel," his naturally pouting lips spoke, catching my attention. I hadn't kissed those lips since that morning before we left our hotel room. I was going through withdrawal, but Kai came first. Play later.

"Yes?" I asked, rubbing a thumb along his bottom lip. It was killing me! Hurry, Kai!

His eyes flashed with uncertainty. "I know it isn't exactly the place we wanted but. . . . I mean-" he trailed off.

I frowned, not really understanding what was going on in my phoenix's mind. He bit his lip, eyes on me before they flicked to the bed and then back to me. I understood then.

Hot damn, I was getting laid tonight!

Okay, bad choice of words. Good thing Kai can't read minds.

I smiled softly and turned him around in my arms to where we were facing each other. I tilted his head up with my finger under his chin to where his eyes met mine. I let him see the love and compassion for him, the passion, the lust, the want, the need. I let him see into my eyes just before I claimed his lips as mine. His body relaxed and relied on instinct after that.

At that point, I was glad I had the foresight to lock the door behind me.

I released his lips, though it about killed me to do so, and led him to the bed. Gently, I helped him lay down, giving him kisses along his face, neck, and lips in encouragement. He relaxed and surrendered to my tongue as it devoured his warm cavern. His and mine battled for quite some time before he let up. In the meantime, my hands had wandered all over his body, removing his form-fitting jeans that I had talked him into buying, his shoes, and his socks. All that was left was his shirt. I broke away to remove my own button-up, his eyes racking over my chest as the fabric slid to the floor. He sat up a bit, me straddling his hips, and locked his hot mouth onto one of my nipples. Oh, gods, I about came.

He nipped, prodded with his tongue, and sucked so hard until one was erect. Then, he moved on to the other. I noticed his hands had wound their way to my jean button and zipper. He unzipped me with considerable care. I shivered at his touch. It was like playing with fire. You did it just right, and gods, was it erotic. Too much would burn you.

He pushed my pants down to my thighs, but I wasn't able to move to where I could discard them. He held me in place. His butt slid down, bringing his mouth down farther. My knees were at his stomach. His hands kneaded my buttocks as he engulfed me whole.

We'd gone that far before, but gods, that night was like it was the first time for either of us. All the sensations, all the teasing. It was almost too much.

Almost.

My cheeks burned in flush, and when I shared a look with Kai, it made him groan, the sound vibrating up my shaft. I gasped, gritting my teeth against the overwhelming feeling. If I wasn't careful, I'd come. So, when Kai released me, I gripped his shoulders, slid him up, and locked tongues with him while slipping off my pants the rest of the way. My thick hand ventured to his own neglected shaft, teasing it with light touches up and down and at the head. I had the phoenix whimpering beneath me in a matter of seconds. My hand lowered to his sacks, kneading them like he did my ass and enjoying as he jumped a bit, electric shocks traveling through his body. I released his mouth, both of us panting, and with my free hand, slipped his shirt over his head, relishing in the sight of wet slate hair flowing softly to collect at his forehead. I bit back a groan and noticed the complimented lotion on the bedside table next to the wall. I grabbed it, pumping a little in my hand and coating it before kissing the phoenix again and pressing against his entrance with the tip of my finger.

He tensed against me, but my tongue helped get his mind off of things. I slipped in a finger, his body jerking slightly underneath me which just sent jolts of pleasure through my groin. I prodded around with that finger before carefully slipping in another while devouring his mouth so hard saliva was dripping down the sides of our lips. I had him so distracted that he didn't even flinch when the second and third finger entered, stretching him as wide as he could go. It got to where his body was reacting with my menstruations, slamming down on my fingers for more pleasure as I scrapped his inside walls lightly with my short fingernails. I raped his mouth so hard and fast. He needed the distraction. He'd told me what had happened to him, and I told him my story. I had gotten over mine a while back with a lover who died a little after. Kai had never gotten over his ordeal. So, I had to think back to what helped me.

So far, so good.

I let up on his mouth as my fingers exited. He panted, cheeks as red as the sheets below him. I searched his darkened eyes. "You ready, Kai?"

He gulped down the rest of the saliva that had been brought up and nodded, hands gripping my biceps and shoulders as he shifted his legs, each one on the outside of my thighs. I sat between him, shivering at the hunger that was building even higher for this beautiful god below me. I wouldn't have been able to stop if he wanted me to.

I lathered up my erection as much as I could and positioned myself. I watched his face as I entered, kissing away the pained lines etched along his brow. I kissed him deeply as I sheathed myself completely inside him. Gods, he was tight. I strained to not pound into him. I couldn't. I had to take this slow.

So, I let him adjust, my body still, until he looked at me with those wanting orbs, nodding his consent. Bless him! I pulled out almost completely before entering again with a little more quickness than I had the first time. I did this a few more times, getting faster each one until I had him groaning and tugging on my shoulders for more. I quickened our pace, angling ever so slightly to that spot I knew was there. I had to cover his mouth with my own to muffle the scream that erupted out of that strong throat.

"Harder," he whimpered after I released his mouth again.

I complied.

I pounded into him as hard and fast as I could go, striking that spot at just the right times. His hands and fingers clung to me, his body meeting me in time, his hot mouth on my face just as mine was on his. Our sweat mixed together. Our moans mixed together. When he said my name, I his. I pounded harder, faster, vaguely realizing that I was pushing our limits. I reached in-between our two, sweat soaked bodies and grasped his member, only needing to tug once before he came hard and fast, the loud scream muffled by my own as our lips met. I came inside his clamping walls, my seed deep inside him as I struck that spot one last time.

Our bodies shook as one, our breath mingling as we came down slowly from our high. I braced myself, trying so hard not to collapse on top of my lover. Kai met my eyes, his glassy, sated, happy. We shared a kiss before I reluctantly pulled out of his tight interior. I fell next to him, still breathing heavily. He rolled over to face me, and I pulled him into my arms. We stayed that way for a while, relaxing, happy.

I sighed, contented, and pulled Kai closer to me. His head shifted on my chest in a nuzzle, one hand splayed out in front of his face. He strained his neck upward for a kiss, and I complied. Who couldn't after making love like that? His tongue met mine in a playful match before surrendering. I explored that now-marked territory, feeling that heat return to my groin. Of course, that could also be because Kai's hand made its way down there. I moaned as his nimble fingers touched, prodded, and teased. Looked like round two came closer than expected. Oh, well, time for me to return the favor, if only that bumping sound and singing would stop.

I pulled back as the sounds grew louder, and even Kai stopped his menstruations to listen.

"What is that?" he asked, voice thick, deep from sex. I shivered at the sound of it. He raised an eyebrow at me, eyes questioning. I shook my head, trying to not look at the sexy sight that was right there.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Maybe the generator is trying to kick back on?"

Kai's slim brows narrowed slightly in contemplation, nodding. "I suppose you could be right, but what of the singing?"

I listened to the awful thing. It sounded as if a broken record player was trying to work. It also sounded like some kid's song. "No clue. It's probably one of the other residents or Tyson and Max trying to listen to a song on the radio again?"

He nodded again just as the sound stopped. I shrugged and gently turned his face to where it met mine again. He smirked a bit before letting me claim his mouth again. I was just starting to return the favor he gave me earlier when a loud knock sounded at our door. I growled, pulling away from my boyfriend's lips and hastily getting out of bed, stomping over to my pants and gingerly putting them on. Jeans and a hard-on did not mix. I saw as Kai did the same, a general pout on his face. I was about to say fuck it and toss Kai back onto the bed, screwing him senseless. That look was a little much. I ground my teeth as I unlocked and opened the door.

Tala stood just inches from my face, his fist ready to strike the door again. He smirked as he caught our flustered appearance. "Sorry to disturb you two," his smirk widened."

"What do you want, Tala?" Kai gruffed from behind me, crossing his arms. No! Kai, uncross, uncross. . . . Never mind, don't. No one is to see your body but me!

The wolf's face grew serious. "I was wondering if you two heard those weird noises?"

Kai nodded along with me. "Yeah, we just figured it was some other attendant and the generators," I replied, fighting with myself so I wouldn't slam the door in Tala's face. He interrupted us for that? Damn him.

Tala scratched his head. "Yeah, that makes sense. I was just wondering if it was you two, or we were hearing things. Bryan heard it, too."

"I don't know what else it would be," I ground out, wanting him gone. I finally had Kai to myself, and he had to butt in.

The wolf just smirked and chuckled. "Alright, alright. I'll leave. Jeeze, if you wanted to screw, all you had to do was say so."

That was the last straw.

I slammed the door in his face, smirking like a maniac as I heard it connect with his nose and the following curses thereafter. There, I felt better.

Kai chuckled a little behind me, and I gazed at him. He stood with the lamp just next to him, casting its golden glow upon his pale body. His pale, sculpted, lean, sexy body.

Fuck it.

I strode over to him, picked him up bridal style while ignoring his startled cry, and dumped him on the bed, me following. I crushed his lips with my own, discarding his jeans quicker than Houdini would have been able to do. Grinding my fabric-clad groin against his, I devoured and relished in the moan that escaped his throat. I nibbled at his ear before whispering, "Mine." He moaned again and struggled to undo the button and zipper on my pants.

Now, where did I put that lotion?

-S-S-S-

Dawn came too early, and lo and behold, it was still storming outside. I groaned as I looked at the time on my phone. It was seven in the morning. Screw that, I was going back to sleep. I had Kai cuddled up next to me. I was warm. I was sated. Fuck it, the world could do without Miguel Lavalier for a few hours, or days. Whichever worked the best.

Kai sighed and snuggled closer unconsciously. He was dreaming peacefully again. That was a good sign. When I first found out that Kai suffered from nightmares, I was horrified that I wasn't able to do much for him. It soon winded down to as long as I was near, he would dream peacefully.

I closed my eyes, tightening my hold on the phoenix. Sighing, I was about to drift off to sleep.

If a loud scream hadn't echoed through the halls, I would have.

-S-S-S-S-S-

End Chapter One

-S-S-S-S-S-

Well, how is everything so far? Not scary? Duh. If you put all the scary stuff in the first chapter, then no one wants to read the rest! ^^ I did put a little lemon and lime in there for ya! ^^ Do I get points for that?

Hope you're enjoying and will review to let me know! Chapter two will be up soon, if not later this week or next week.

Enjoy the rest of your day, but remember at night to not look under the bed.


	2. One Sheep, Two Sheep

Disclaimer: Don't own.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Under the Bed

-One Sheep, Two Sheep-

-S-S-S-S-S-

A stormy morning was just rising as a blood-curling scream traveled throughout the entire inn.

The two figures in Room 234 jumped, one of them jerking awake. Each one didn't say a word as they hurriedly slipped on a pair of sweat pants each, stumbled to the door, and threw it open.

Kai Hiwatari practically flew down the hallway, ignoring the slight tinge of pain coming from his lower torso and running up to the terrified maid. She stood in front of a large, wooden door, dark eyes wide, hand on mouth to control the rest of the screams that threatened to make themselves known. Her lithe body trembled underneath the light weight black and white outfit. She continued to stare at the hastily closed door in shock.

He motioned for Miguel to take her away from the line of the doorway just as the other occupants of the second floor came out of their rooms. Miguel complied, gently ushering her towards the stairwell where the manager was rushing up. He left her with him and headed back to his lover. Kai stood there, a deep frown on his face. His violet eyes glanced down at the small stain of red on the cream colored carpet. It seemed to have been slowly soaking the fabric for a few hours, on how the color was as dark as the night.

Kai gulped down a lump in his throat and turned back to the rest of the group.

They were standing at Ray and Lee's bedroom door.

He took in a deep, steadying breath and eyed Tala and Bryan. "Get them out of the line of sight. Now." He didn't give anyone any room to object as the captain came through his barriers. Tyson bit back his comment and grabbed Max's arm as the wolf and falcon did as told. Miguel shared a look with his boyfriend and opted to stand next to the door facing instead of the stairwell with the others. The stern look in his sea blue orbs kept the phoenix quiet. Kai just nodded and took another breath, turning back to the door.

Placing a warmed hand on the cool metal, he shivered as a gut-wrenching feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. His whole body felt cold on the inside, like it knew what the evil and horrifying scene was in the room. Kai opened the door, pushing the bad feeling away, and gasped as his wise violets caught sight of something he'd never in his life seen.

Blood coated the ceiling, the floors, the bed, the windows, each and every piece of furniture. The thick red substance was still dripping from places at high altitude, even though the edges of the pools were dark and crusted with time and age. As the orbs looked around, they widened as they caught sight of two other images. Lee lay on the bed, face up. His golden eyes were wide with fright. Large gashes ranged in random patterns all around his upper torso, on his chest, his stomach, to where various organs and bones popped and squeezed out. The intestines dragged out from his lower abdomen to the side of the bed and down to the floor like someone had deliberately tugged and yanked it out of its casing. White bone fragments and pieces had flown about the bed and table side. His head was barely being held on by the pillow and thin parts of skin that had once been his neck.

Ray lay on the floor nearest the door. He, too, was face up at an angle like he had been trying to get away but was pushed back. One of his legs lay a good few inches away, the bone and muscle been hacked away by a sharp but wide object, the same one that probably made the deep holes in Lee's body. The long haired Chinese boy lay there, pale skinned, post mortem bruises forming, hair loose and flared about on the carpet. It was his face that had Kai dizzy. In the middle of his face sat a large, very sharp, bloody axe, one that would have been used to chop large pines by lumbermen at one time. There, it sat, in Ray's face, his brain splattered out the top of his head from the strong impact. His nose had been pushed in, his eyes disappeared underneath the axe's blade. The handle of the weapon stood there ever so innocently, not a trace of blood on it.

Kai shook his head, his body trembling, the blood rushed from his face, his stomach churning violently. Quickly, he slammed the door and backed up a few steps, unseeing orbs staring at the wooden hunk a few seconds before his legs sprinted him back into his shared room with Miguel. He dashed into the open bathroom and just barely made it to the toilet to hurl whatever it was in his stomach from the day before. Unbeknownst to him, tears fell hot and heavy down his cheeks as he threw up, coughing in-between heaves. A light, broad hand pressed in the middle of his back, rubbing in a soothing rhythm in hopes of calming the phoenix.

Miguel looked on even as the others piled into the roomy bathroom. Kai continued to empty his stomach for a good five more minutes before dry-heaving set in. His body shook as he forced himself away from the porcelain dish. The gargoyle took his lover into his arms, surprised at the way Kai snuggled in close to his body for comfort. His hands grasped at the tanned skin of the Spaniard, fingertips shaking with every endeavor as they clung tightly.

"Kai," Tala whispered, kneeling next to the two. The phoenix slowly lifted disturbed, far away violets. The wolf put a hand on his friend's cheek. "What is it?"

Kai seemed to think about that question for a long time, his gaze lifting even more to Tyson, Max, Kenney, and Hillary. They didn't need to know. They didn't need to know what he had seen. Ray was their friend. He couldn't let them know how he died. It'd cause panic, betrayal, too much more emotions for him to keep the rest of the team together.

They didn't need to know.

So, softly, he spoke to his team in that commanding voice that seemed haunted in a way, "Tyson, Max, go back to your room. Kenney, Hillary, I need you two to call Mr. Dickenson and the police. Stay in your rooms. Do not come out. Do not answer the door unless it is one of us. Lock the door and windows. Please, don't ask why, just do as I say."

Tyson and the others nodded, but he bit his lip, tears forming in his eyes as the thought sank in. "Ray and Lee are dead, aren't they?" he asked his captain and friend.

Kai didn't meet his gaze, seeming to find something more interesting in the cabinet door, as he nodded.

The dragon bit his lip in a mixture of anger and sadness. He cried out in frustration and punched the door facing, his head down. Max wrapped him in his arms and nodded at the phoenix sadly before ushering the others out of the bathroom and bedroom to their own rooms, shutting the door behind them.

Bryan shared a look with Tala and then turned to Kai. "How?"

The phoenix shivered and jumped a little at the comment, like he was frightened, and in a way, he was. "Som-Someone murdered them. Wi-With an axe." The tears came back. "K-Killed them both. Oh, gods!" He buried his face into Miguel's chest. "Oh, gods, Ray, Lee. Oh, fucking gods." Then came the flood. He cried. He cried hard, clinging to his only anchor for life.

Tala stood slowly, Kai's words sinking in just as slowly. His eyes widened, light blues not wanting to believe what was happening. Bryan stood beside him, his face trying to stay its normal indifference, but with each small look he had towards the bawling Kai and the silently crying Miguel, it was getting harder and harder.

"Damnit," he whispered, bringing Tala in his own arms as the wolf just stood, semi-shock settling in.

-S-S-S-

Miguel sighed, bringing up a hand to softly push a slate blue strand away from his lover's brow. After his breakdown, Kai's body opted for sleep, forcing Miguel to carry the phoenix to their bed. Tala and Bryan had left a little afterwards to speak with the others, telling them only a little of what was happing. The Spaniard thanked them silently with his blue orbs as he locked the door behind them. Checking the window to make sure it, too, was locked, he had lain down with Kai. They stayed together for two hours before Kai woke.

"Miguel?" his soft, rough voice asked, violets blinking in depressing confusion up at his boyfriend.

The gargoyle just smiled a bit, reassuring, and pulled the teen closer to him, their warm bodies acting like a furnace. Kai was still vulnerable to go into shock if they weren't careful. Miguel knew it was best to keep shock victims warm to offset the symptoms. Kai sighed a little, snuggling closer than thought possible before relaxing.

"Are the windows and doors locked?" he asked sleepily, fingers forming a fist around the tan chest once again. At Miguel's nod, he continued. "The others?"

"I texted each and every one of them, Kai. All are fine. Kenney said that he wasn't able to reach Mr. Dickenson because of the crappy service and the fact the phones are down in the next town due to the storm. It's the same with the police. He said that he would keep trying." Miguel kept his voice soft, calming.

It took a while for the phoenix's jumbled mind to understand what his lover was saying. When it pieced together, he nodded, closing his eyes. "I don't understand."

"What?"

Another sigh escaped. "I don't understand why anyone would kill. . . ." he trailed off, tears threatening, as the bedroom scene popped back up. He shut his eyes tightly, burying his face into Miguel's neck. Breathing deeply, he willed his body to get under control. Easier said than done.

The Spaniard's arms wrapped about him once more, comforting, calming. Kai took in a few more shuddering breaths before the sadness ebbed away for the time being. A soft humming erupted from the tanned throat next to the phoenix's ear. It was soft, an alluring Spanish lullaby. He remembered Miguel had once sung the same song before to calm him from a bad nightmare. This was a nightmare. One of his closest friends had been murdered by some sick maniac. Those scenes only existed in his nightmares. So, maybe after a few more hours, he'd wake up and it all would be back to normal. His more realistic part of the brain knew better, but it didn't hurt to hope for the impossible.

The humming continued on until well after Kai's body relaxed. Afterwards, Miguel decided to change the subject, "So, how are you feeling physically?" A small smirk pasted his face as Kai's incredulous looking one stared up at him.

A deep red blush spread across the tattooed cheeks as the thought sank in. A small glare came to Kai's face, and he pushed Miguel away from him, pouting playfully. He rolled to his other side, his back facing his laughing lover. "I can't believe you just asked me that," the phoenix pouted.

Miguel couldn't stop chuckling as he wrapped his arms around the struggling Russian. "Oh, you know I'm all for your well-being, Kai," he teased.

"Well-being, my ass!" He slapped the Spaniard's hands away from him and scooted closer to the edge of the bed.

The gargoyle laughed again and pulled the phoenix back. "Exactly," he growled seductively in his boyfriend's ear.

The teen shivered at the possessiveness in his lover's tone. "You're a pervert." He crossed his arms.

"I'm Spanish. It's in the blood," Miguel chuckled, nibbling at Kai's bare collarbone only to receive a slap on the thigh.

"No, we have work to do," Kai said seriously but couldn't stop squirming in the tightening hold.

Miguel thought about that statement. "You want to find out who did this to Lee and Ray, don't you?"

Kai stopped moving, eyes staring off into the distance as he replied, "Yes." He took in a deep breath and sighed. "It's my duty as captain to find out what happened to my teammate. The police haven't been contacted, and the killer is probably still in this hotel."

"Inn."

"Huh?"

"It's an inn."

"Whatever."

Miguel sighed himself as he squeezed Kai. "It's also for some closure isn't it?" he asked slowly, carefully.

The phoenix nodded. "I have to have as much closure as the others. I can't go on not knowing why, and in fear of my other teammates and you. The killer is still out there. If he had any sense, he would know that we are all vulnerable here. No way out. This isn't a familiar place. I can't let anything happen to anyone else."

"I understand, Kai," the gargoyle nuzzled his lover's neck. "I'll help anyway I can."

"Thank you."

"But for now," he started, turning Kai back around and pulling the covers up to their shoulders, "let's get some sleep. Something tells me that this is going to be a long night."

Kai nodded, feeling the same.

Sleep didn't take long to come.

-S-S-S-

Kenney, the Chief, sighed as he sat on the bed. His laptop sat across his legs, Dizzy's voice echoing back facts to him, adding in a few sarcastic comments to keep both he and Hillary from going into depression. Dizzy was his faithful bitbeast. She had been trapped in his laptop for three, four, almost five years. She was a great asset to have and a good friend, though she could be teasing and sarcastic as anyone.

Hillary was in the bathroom, listening to them talk. She added her two cents in every now and then, but a girl's work never ends whenever she just exits the shower.

"I'm really worried about this," Kenney's unsure voice traveled to her from behind the closed door. "I still can't get in touch with Mr. Dickenson or the police department. I've called downstairs to the lobby, but their outgoing phone lines are down as well. I'm surprised the phone lines here are still working what with the power still out."

"Ooh, Chief, that's creepy!" Dizzy's voice squealed. She loved teasing her counterpart.

Hillary chuckled at the two as Kenney tried arguing against her with his logic. "Don't worry, Chief," she piped, silencing the two. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Kai has a way with these situations. He'll think of something." She tried not to think of Ray. She tried so hard not to think of the calm tiger. She'd only known him for almost three years, but it seemed like a lifetime. Ray and Kai were a great team when it came to stressful situations. Everyone always turned to them. Kai for leadership, strength, and guidance. Ray for a calming atmosphere and positive outlook.

But Ray was gone.

"I agree, Hil," Kenney began, "but did you not see the way Kai was this morning?"

Both were quiet as they remembered the phoenix paling desperately as he stared at the open room and then closed the door with such force, the hinges groaned. He then had sprinted into his bathroom, puking his guts out and crying.

It hadn't been pretty in Ray and Lee's room, that was a fact.

"I know, Kenney," she reasoned, "but I think anyone else would have totally freaked and been put in a nuthouse. Kai will be fine, I'm sure."

Her and Kai had gotten pretty close in the few years they'd known each other. He'd saved her life countless times, and she'd shone a bright light on many things he considered too dark to see. They complimented each other pretty well. Everyone figured she'd end up with Kai or Tyson with the way she interacted with them, but Kenney just had something the other two didn't.

Though, she'd hadn't figured it out.

She unraveled her wet hair from its towel. Rubbing the towel, she tried getting as much water from her dark brown locks before she even tried blow-drying it. Kenney continued to talk with Dizzy. Hillary had gotten used to the two. It was kind of relaxing in a strange way. Bending down, she tossed the towel into the hamper and picked up the dryer out of her bag on the floor. She straightened, locking eyes with deep golds with red outlining. Her loud voice didn't get to make itself known as the figure behind her wrapped a very thin piece of string around her throat, cutting her vocal cords with ease. She tried gasping, but it only came out in gurgles, crimson, hot blood pouring down her fingers as she attempted to pull the string away from her throat.

She didn't get a chance as the figure pulled harder on the wire, slicing her throat completely, the thick forehead making the round object bounce as it hit the floor and rolled. The grin that spread across the figure's face seemed inhuman, stretching from one small ear to the other, large fangs dripping with burning saliva glistened in the dim room. The lips puckered and blew out the oil lamp.

Kenney sighed again as he set his closed laptop down on the bed, going over to the dresser to get ready for bed. It was already going on nine at night, surprisingly. He didn't have that many clothes. So, he had taken two small drawers on the long dresser with the mirror. He stared at himself in the glass for the longest time, vaguely hearing a small thump in the bathroom behind him. In the mirror, he had the perfect view of the bathroom door. He slipped off his shirt and looked back into the mirror just as the small light in the bathroom went out and the door opened.

Folding the shirt neatly, his eyes then traveled again to the mirror, hoping to catch a glimpse of Hillary in her robe. She was so pretty in a light pink robe he'd gotten her for that past Christmas, but as he watched, waiting for his girlfriend to appear in the mirror, little did he realize how she would.

A medium sized, round object rolled out of the doorway to stop in the middle of the room, front facing him. His small eyes widened at the sight. Hillary's head stared at him in fright, eyes flickering a few times before stilling. A scream bubbled up in his throat but was quickly silenced as the dresser tilted dangerously towards him. He whimpered and backed up a few steps before it finally dropped.

On top of him.

Glass shattered, wood splinted, drawers slid open and clunked on the carpet, and blood poured out from underneath it. Nothing moved after that.

A small buzzing sound echoed through the room. If anyone dared to look at the screen, a jolly man's picture they would see. He would be wearing a small black hat and suit to match, surrounded by five boys with a large trophy. The name "Mr. Dickenson" flashed for a while before it the phone transferred the call to voice mail.

A chuckling sounded. "One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four. I want blood, and a lot more."

-S-S-S-S-S-

OMG. I killed Kenney! Lol. I've always wanted to do that to Hillary, too! ^^ Sorry, Hillary fans, but a girl's just gotta have fun once in a while. ^^

Ray and Lee fans, I apologize for knocking them off first. Didn't mean for it to happen, it just did! ^^

Who will die next? Or will Kai and Miguel figure out who the culprit is? Who is the killer? They don't know. How will they find out?

Stay tuned! Chapter three up next week, hopefully! ^^

Don't forget to review.

Enjoy the rest of your day, but remember at night to not look under the bed.


	3. The Face of the Boogeyman

Disclaimer: Don't own.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Under the Bed

-The Face of the Boogeyman-

-S-S-S-S-S-

Everything seemed different after we found out about Ray and Lee's deaths. It was like we knew we were next. Like we had been destined to deal with losing our friends and then ourselves. On the outside, I guess we seemed alright with it, but inside, I was a bubbling mess. I knew Kai was the same. I didn't exactly have his exact words to prove me right, but I would watch as he jumped at the slightest sound, twitched and recoiled at footsteps of the maids in the hallway. He was just as nervous and anxious as I was, but it wasn't in our blood to admit it. Especially not my lover's. Kai had been born and raised to keep his comments to himself. Anything and everything he would feel was to be heard or even seen by no one save Kai Hiwatari. People, as he got older, called him cold, emotionless, a wet blanket - in Tyson's words - and he always took it in stride. Kai was one of those proud beings that didn't give a damn about anyone else or anything save those around him. He was just that way, grew up that way. I blame his so-called grandfather, but that would be my opinion, and Tala's. In the time I had been with Kai, I got him to open up a little about what he was feeling concerning a certain subject. Sometimes, it would work. Others were just hell in a handbasket. Waiting in the bedroom with Kai on one computer and myself on another searching for any and all information about the inn we were staying in was one of the times.

I sighed as I clicked on yet another link with the inn's name printed on it, but lo and behold, it was a hotel in the Bahama's with the same name: Treehort. Wonderful. Another dead end on that page. Next page, here I come. What was the number again? Oh, page 240. Growling a little in frustration, I clicked the icon for "Next Page" once more. I saw Kai, out of the corner of my eye, glance at me with a questioning look before going back to his own very expensive laptop.

Damn him and his damn Mac.

Wait, damn his money.

There, I felt better.

Sitting up, I shifted closer to my phoenix who was stretched out beside me on the bed. His back was against the headboard. Delicately carved spirals and other designs shied away from his pale skin, bare back showing no indentations whereas mine was riddled with the whole lot of them. I leaned my back on his arm, my head against his shoulder, and used him as a pile of pillows while still glaring at my laptop. I felt, rather than saw, his eyebrow raise in question at my movement, but I ignored the inquiry and snuggled closer to get more comfortable.

"Miguel," his deep voice rumbled behind my ear. I mentally, and physically - if you really want to get physical - shivered in delight at the tone. No matter who said what, Kai's voice was one of those deep, musical, sexy voices that movie stars would pay millions of dollars just to have on their answering machines.

I wondered if he ever went up on some of those offers.

"Yes," I said, clicking on another site.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, why I am looking up a non-existent inn which is trying to kill my friends and lover, _and _I am fighting the very strong urge to throw my computer against that pretty gold colored wall right there in front of me if it doesn't stop freezing every few seconds because of the crappy reception in said non-existent inn."

To say I said all that with a straight face would not be lying.

I felt his body shudder behind me in chuckling as he laughed. "I told you to let me buy you that other laptop."

"Not that old argument," I sighed, pressing a little harder on the mouse key than meaning to as I came to another dead end on yet another page. "I told you that I didn't need a MacBook Air."

"As compared to the outdated Gateway in your hands?"

"Yes, as compared to the outdated Gateway in my hands. It's a good laptop. This place is just out in the middle of nowhere. Reception is better in the Alps - literally - and it doesn't exist."

"The reception?"

"No, the inn. It doesn't exist. We are in a ghost inn. That's who's out to get us: ghosts who are upset that we actually found this place in the middle of nowhere. I knew we shouldn't have taken that right onto Vain Street. They are doubly upset with how vain we all are, too. That's it. Ray and Lee took so long in the bathroom when they got ready. So, it pissed some ghosts off even more when they realized it was all for looking so pretty. Kai, no more long showers. You're pretty enough that I'm gonna have to fight off ghost after ghost who wants to kill you."

The snort behind me brought my smirking face to meet my lover's. He smiled, thanking me with that beautiful gaze of violets. He needed the reprieve as much as I needed to say it. I was still upset about my just-frozen laptop and growled as I felt it hum violently in my hands, trying to work and failing miserably.

Kai smiled at me and my antics and closed his computer, doing the same for mine and setting them on the table beside the bed. Gazing deeply into my eyes, he shifted out from behind me and straddled my hips, sitting on my thighs. Oh, please don't stop. "Why don't we take a break, Miguel?" he purred into my ear, nuzzling it with his cute little up-turned nose. Nipping it with his teeth, his tongue came to play, lapping at the lobe and the small indentation of a hole where I used to where a silver stud. I sighed, pulling him closer to me and kissing his neck and running my hand down his bare spine and into the hem of his sweat pants.

If only that damned knocking - wait pounding - would quit.

Kai pulled away sharply as his name was called out along with mine from the occupants at the door. Scrambling over me and sprinting over to the door without so much as having to basically leap from the bed, he hurriedly unlocked the door, revealing a bewildered Tala and a furious Bryan. The red headed Russian teen stormed into the room blaring, "He's done it again! You'll never guess who! When I find this guy, I'm gonna gut him! Tear him limb from limb. Rip him open with a wooden spoon and scoop every single one of his damned organs out and then feed them to him!"

The two came over to the bed where I was still situated, head cocked to the side. What was he blabbering about? Was he drunk? I could smell alcohol from one of them, if not both. Vodka, Russian vodka and very expensive. Probably from one of Kai's many hidden stashes in his mansion that he didn't live in any longer.

Kai quietly shut and locked the door and came back over to my arms, which I gratefully accepted him. An angry Tala and Bryan were never good to face alone. Bryan, with his silver hair and lilac eyes was just scary enough, looking like a hitman, but with Tala, Mr. Wolfman himself, it was just down-right horrifying. "What are you going on about, Tala?" my lover asked calmly, staring him down with a bored expression.

Yeah, this is the second time you've interrupted us when we've just gotten started. Explain.

"Kenney and Hillary are dead."

Oh. Never mind, go back to your raillery.

"What?" Kai whispered, his voice barely making a sound. His body was rigid against mine, violet eyes wide, mouth hung open in an oval shape that only indicated disbelief.

"Glasses is dead!" the wolf cried again, using Kenney's nickname. Tala was never good at remembering names off-bat. So, he made nicknames for everyone. Kenney had been dubbed "Glasses" a long time ago, and it stuck. "The girl, too! Someone got into their room, decapitated her, and tipped the dresser on top of him."

Kai's breath was shallow, his body trembling. I turned my attention to him. Yeah, I was upset. I had grown pretty close to the Chief and to Hillary. She was like a little sister to me, just like Matilda. They acted so much alike, it was hard not to take her under my wing, but Kai was trying to go into shock.

"Kai," I called, bringing his face to mine. His eyes were wider than before, glassy, unseeing. Mouth was still open. His body shook more, cold, clammy. I wrapped the top portion of the blanket around him, motioning for Bryan to hand me a shirt out of the phoenix's bag. He gave me a sweatshirt, the biggest and thickest Kai had, and I forced my lover to put it on. He wasn't listening to me. I didn't think he was even able to hear me. His breath hitched and began again quicker, heavier, than before. Shit.

"Kai, Kai, listen to me," I tried to reason with his mind, but he had shut me out. I didn't blame him. Kai had been very close to Kenney. The two stayed up many nights fixing the others' beyblades and developing strategies, though neither would admit it to any one else. Hillary also had carved her way into Kai's heart. The girl helped him just as much as he helped her. He helped her belong to the group. Without him, she would have been gone long ago. The same was with him. She helped him understand different things about the team that only she could see. She helped him understand his team, his bitbeast, himself. A good set of fresh eyes did that. At the moment, he was attempting to go into shock because of the loss of those two great people, and doing a good job of it.

"Move," Tala commanded, but I sat firm. I knew what he had been planning, but I didn't think a good slap to the face was going to be very effective. In his state, Kai would kill the idiot or delve deeper into himself. Neither were a good option.

Instead, I shifted closer and brought my phoenix's lips to mine in a harsh, reality awakening kiss. I pressed a hand against the back of his skull, bringing him close, the kiss harder. I kept it up until air was essential and then let go. I sat, breathing slightly heavy, and watched as my lover's eyes started focusing again, his shaking lessening, his temperature returning to normal, his breathing back to normal as well, save a few pants.

He blinked, naturally full orbs focusing on my face. He let go a deep breath in a sigh and closed his eyes in a silent prayer of thanks before gazing at me again, face and eyes clear, perceptive, ready. "Thank you," he whispered on a breath. He shook his head a bit and looked upwards at Tala, the spiked red head shaking in disbelief. My phoenix glared hatefully and accusingly at the teen. "You wanted to hit me."

"Oh, so you were comprehensive," the wolf defended. "Well, if I had known that, I so would have just gone for a good sock in the jaw."

The phoenix growled, eyes blazing, and he made a move to the teen, and if it hadn't been for my - please read: my - quick reflexes, the red headed Russian would have been dead. Instead, I wound my arms around the thin stomach and held on tight, planting my butt in the mattress, legs and knees as well to throw my lover off balance and send him crashing back into the covers.

Which it did.

Kai growled again and wiggled to get out of my firm grip. I moved to where I pinned him on the bed. Although that position would have been quite inviting given other circumstances, I pushed my libido far back into the corners of my mind, even though it didn't help that Kai's butt rested just perfectly against my groin. Oh, gods. Not in front of Tala and Bryan. I'd never hear the end of it.

The phoenix eventually stopped trying to get out of my hold in order to kill his best friend. He heaved a defeated, yet annoyed, sigh and went limp, head falling to the blankets. I waited a little longer to make sure his anger was out of his system before getting up and away from him prior to what my body had in mind to do. I chanced a look up at the two other Russians and blinked.

Tala stood, or rather cowered, behind Bryan, who was trying his utmost best to inch away from the bed. Both had scared looks on their faces. I didn't realize my boyfriend was really that scary.

Kai grumbled as he sat up, his glare at his two friends never faltering as he settled back against the headboard next to me. You had to look really close to see the pout on his face, but it was there. I chuckled at him, gaining my own half hearted glower in the process. I brushed it off with another smile, and it didn't take him long to return one.

I heard Bryan clear his throat, interrupting our gaze. Damn them. What was with those two, always interrupting the good moments? My phoenix and I switched our attention to the falcon wielder. Tala was still behind him, hiding. Bryan shifted on his feet before presenting a silver laptop.

Kenney's laptop.

"We thought you'd wanna talk to that chick in the geek's computer about what happened," he compromised, trying to lessen the rage my boyfriend had against his.

Kai seemed to perk up at that. I knew exactly what he was thinking. Dizzy was alright. That was a start. Obviously, the killer didn't know about the Chief's laptop. Which meant that he didn't know anything about the team.

Wow, I need to stop watching those cop shows.

Kai practically snatched the computer away from Bryan and settled her in his lap, opening it. She was already on, her voice shaking, disturbed, sorrowed.

"Kai-" she trailed off, sniffing.

I'd never seen Kai's eyes soften at anyone other than me, but right then, those violets were softer than the mattress we were on. He stroked the side of the screen with his thin hand in a comforting gesture. "I know, Dizzy, I know," he soothed.

We heard her take a deep breath, seeming to push back any grief at just the mere presence of Kai. He seemed to do that to people: help them get over things and back to business. It even worked on bitbeasts, so I assumed. "I-I thought that y-you'd want to see what hap-happened," she stuttered out. I felt sorry for the girl. Her master was gone, her best friend. I didn't want to know what that felt like.

Kai nodded, still stroking her side in long, languid motions. It calmed her down considerably. She popped up a video file with a blank picture to start out with. "Just click the play button. If you don't mind, I'm going to play some solitaire and ignore everything for a bit. I really don't want to see that again."

"Alright, Dizzy." Kai waited until a solitaire program opened up in the back before pressing play.

I huddled close to him, not really wanting to see, but felling like I had no choice but to watch. Tala and Bryan did the same on the phoenix's other side. If even one of us caught something, it was a start.

Kai flinched next to me as Kenney's face came on the screen. It seemed like he was talking to Dizzy and Hillary both, his head twisting and turning to each female that was in his life. He stood and walked over to the dresser, getting out his pajamas. Dizzy's camera eye followed his every move. Something from the corner of the screen came into the middle. It was Hillary's head, and Kai flinched again, hand reaching for mine, which I gladly gave. I bit my lip and squeezed his hand as hard as he was squeezing mine. I wanted to look away, thrived to look away, but I couldn't. I had promised Kai I would help any way I could to find the killer, and that included watching the recording of two of our friends' deaths.

Kenney had noticed Hillary's head and not even a few seconds afterwards, a dark figure appeared from the side, body bending like he was a hunchback as he tipped the dresser over on top of Kenney. Kai closed his eyes and looked away at that instant. I didn't blame him. If I could, breaking my promise, I would have. I was just fighting with my stomach so I wouldn't hurl whatever it was I had eaten. I couldn't remember.

I gulped down the build-up of saliva in my mouth from keeping my wits together and continued to watch the video, even as Kai tried his ever-loving best to calm down, his body shaking, trembling, his grip on my hand as tight as it would go. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and watched the dark figure circle both the covered body and the head next to it before getting closer to the screen. I gasped, my eyes widening as the man came into view, at least I thought it was a man.

His hair was dark colored, black, greasy, stringy, long. It hung in his face in clumps, trying to cover the wild, almost demonic yellow eyes. Yes, the whites of the eyes were yellow, matching his pale skin both had red and blue veins visible to the naked eye. His pupils, from Dizzy's high-tech camera lense, were large, dilated. His irises were a pale green, standing out against the yellow, giving that wild look, almost sinking into his skin like they were trying to hide from the world. His skin stuck out from the dirty white attire. I didn't think that white/yellow would be able to stand out at all from brown/white, but it did, the blue, purple, red veins and splotches did that. A thin, broad hand came up to his face, giving way to his purple and black fingernails. He pushed back a "stray" hair behind an ear too small for his large, swollen head, before walking, or rather shuffling, off screen and disappearing.

"Where the fuck did he go?" Bryan asked, or rather screamed. I chanced an uneven glance at his furious face. It was obvious to me that he and Tala were about to go hunting.

Kai rested a tired head on my shoulder. He'd seen the face of the killer. I'd seen the face of the killer. It was not pretty. It was almost horrifying. I felt like I was stuck in a horror flick and couldn't get out of it if my life depended on it, but it does. So does Kai's. That's what I had to think about. I couldn't think about how screwed over we were. I had to think about how to get Kai out of there in one piece. He was my main priority, but then again, the others and myself were his. Damn, the others were my priority, too. Couldn't things just go easy for me? Just once?

Nope.

Dizzy's strained voice filled our ears to answer Bryan's outburst, "I did some research on this inn after . . . and this is what I found." She pulled up various sites on the inn. Not fair! Kai and I had been searching for hours, and she was able to find them lickety split? Not fair. Not fair. Not fair.

"It was constructed over a hundred years ago," her electronic voice droned out. "It was originally built as a summer cottage for a wealthy aristocrat and his staff. He was never married, nor children. So, when he died, the home was passed down to the staff. It remained their home for two years until a civil war in the country began. Then, the government gained the property and created a union hospital for all soldiers to get treated. These types of hospitals were looked down upon and were few and far between. People tried to burn it, tear it down, but it remained standing all through the civil war. After the war was through, all of the nurses and doctors left for bigger cities, and the home was returned to the owners, but they were dead by then. All of them. So, the government got it again.

"The people of towns nearby voted and made it into a mental hospital for the disturbed. People were given to this place from all over the world. The most vicious, unstable minded people came here to live and die. They also used to do shock therapy for those patients. The staff was very minimal because no one wanted to work here. The nearest town is fifteen miles down the road, and was even longer through the woods. Anyone could die and no one would know or care until a few weeks down the road when the place would start smelling.

"The institution lasted for many years before being shut down completely. Their organization of the patients was horrible. Their treatments of the patients were horrible. Shock therapy, drugs out the yin-yang, daily beatings and thrashings if you were bad, mental abuse as well."

"Sounds like the abbey all over again," Tala muttered.

Kai nodded, eyes distant for a minute. "And like Voltaire's house while I was growing up."

His voice was soft, quiet, like we were meant to hear it, but I did and wrapped my arms about him. He seemed slightly confused by the action before realizing that he'd spoken out loud and sighing into my embrace.

Dizzy continued after humming a yes. "Well, after the facility was abolished, it wasn't even a year before people made it into an inn. That's when all the crazy stuff had started."

"Crazy stuff?" my phoenix asked, eyebrow cocked.

"Well, I looked further into that. Turns out that there were victims in this inn before we came along."

"Surprise, surprise," Bryan growled.

"Really, it seems like housekeepers would go to rooms for room service or something along those lines and find dead bodies."

"Like we did Ray, Lee, Kenney, and Hillary," Tala nodded.

"Yes, and it turns out that even couples have disappeared. No one knows what happens to them. Kids are not touched, though. Kind of weird, really, considering their comments."

"Comments?" I asked, brow furrowing together.

"The kids have actually seen this guy. According to all of them, they said he comes from underneath the bed in the middle of the night. If any part of their body was not touching the bed, they weren't safe. All of the kids said that you had to be completely on the bed to be safe. They called him the Boogeyman."

"Boogeyman, as in that old tale to get kids to go to sleep?" Tala asked.

"Yeah, you know the story," I piped, but at Kai's questioning look, I realized that Dizzy and I were the only ones who knew about the legend.

"I only know the gist, and that's because some of the older kids in the orphanage I was at before the abbey talked about the boogeyman," the wolf commented.

I sighed. "According to legend, the boogeyman is a creature of night. He's an ugly creature that appears underneath the bed of any girl or boy that's not asleep. It's said that any kid who has any part of his limb off of the bed is a victim of the boogeyman. He kills kids, ripping them apart, even known to devour them as punishment for not staying in bed after nighttime."

"Parents actually threaten their kids with this story?" Kai questioned, disbelief on his face.

I nodded. "My brother and I were horrible at staying up past our bedtimes. Papi, once, got dressed up as a boogeyman and hid under our bed that we shared until we were sent to our room. Of course, we didn't go to sleep, rather playing around quietly so Momma wouldn't find out. Well, he popped up out from underneath the bed and rushed toward us. We were so scared, we screamed and ran from him to our mother. She told us the story of the boogeyman, and we went to bed, falling asleep just so we wouldn't be killed. Poor Papi stayed under our bed all night until breakfast time. It worked. We went to bed on time after that."

The phoenix next to me shivered at the thought. "Makes no sense."

"Says the guy who was threatened with beatings if he didn't go to bed when told," coming from Bryan.

My Russian boyfriend sent him a rightfully dubbed death glare before turning back to Dizzy. "The boogeyman doesn't actually exist, right?" He was doubtful. I loved my phoenix's curiosity streak.

If Dizzy could shrug, I figured she would have. "No clue. I mean, there are some instances of non-substantial deaths of children with nothing wrong with them. Why?"

My boyfriend bit his lip in thought. "It just makes sense, is all. The only person on the bed was Lee, but then his arm was dangling off the bedside. I just thought that happened when the attack was, but it could have been there before as well."

Kai had a point. Shit. Were we really dealing with the real boogeyman?

"Maybe," Dizzy stated before bringing up a blueprint. I recognized the layout of the inn. "But I found this of the inn. It's the original layout of the house when it was built. There was a picture of it in the library, and someone had posted it on the web site. You see here?" She circled in red different pathways. "Those are secret compartments. They go into each room from the cellar. It was said that the original owner loved his liquor. So, he had each room have a hallway down to the cellar so he could get a bottle or two. This compartment way was really helpful during the war as well. Soldiers in hiding used it to hide from a hostile enemy. It was also used by doctors and nurses, too. They kept the medical supplies in the cool air of the cellar. They'd use the pathways to travel quickly and get the medicine they needed to treat a patient.

"All of the doors were supposed to be sealed off before the place became a mental institution."

"So what," Bryan spoke up, crossing his arms, "we're looking for either a mythical being intent on killing people other than kids who go to sleep when they're told or a lunatic who has knowledge of the pathways."

"If I'm right," she continued, "the innkeepers, in order to make a room look better, positioned the beds over the doors. The large furniture and long bedskirts help conceal the doors."

We all seemed to blink at the same time before jumping off the bed and looking underneath. Lo and behold, there was the trap door right smack dab in the center. We did the whole twin thing again and shivered as one as we stood up. I looked around and spotted the vertical dresser. Pulling at the corner of the bedpost, I tugged half of the bed towards the window and myself. I did the same for the other half of the bed before climbing on top of it and then off. Going over to the dresser, I slid behind the oak and pushed, straining against the tough carpet and heavy furniture. Tala and Bryan, I believed, understood what I was doing for they came over to help. Kai, on the other hand, opened the door as if he had heard something from underneath, the hinges not even squeaking. I don't know what he saw, but with the quickness he was always known for, he slammed the door down and sat on top of it. A large thump sounded beneath our feet, and Kai bounced on the wooden planks before gaining his balance again.

"Hurry up!" he growled at us and pressed down on the door again, preventing whatever it was from getting into our room.

We heaved and pulled and pushed until we got it over there. Tala and Bryan went to the other side of the dresser as I tipped it over so they could catch. I snapped my head up as Kai's yelp echoed to my ears. Letting Bryan and Tala deal with the dresser, I rushed to my boyfriend's side, who was lying next to the door instead of on top. The wooden hunk cracked open and a pale, yellow, blue, and black hand popped out, grasping Kai's wrist in such a tight grip that he made my phoenix cry out in pain.

I growled low in my throat, possessiveness of my boyfriend flaring through me. With a small cry, I slammed my feet and entire body onto the trap door, relishing in the broken, pained scream from underneath. He let go of Kai's bruising wrist and withdrew his hand, the door snapping down. I glared at the other two who were taking their good ol' jolly time. "Hurry up," I snarled at them. That seemed to snap them out of their reverie, and they rushed over with the tipped-over dresser, placing it side down on the trap door as I moved. I didn't stop snarling at the being I knew was under the floor until the dresser was situated perfectly on top of the door. Snorting and shaking my head, I turned to Kai, who was holding his injured wrist.

His confused violets met mine when I took his wrist in my hand, examining the damage. Damn, the bone was snapped. It was his left, bending slightly out of its normal balance. No wonder the skin was bruising and swelling so quickly. I turned to the others, "Tell Tyson and Max. Make sure they know. If he came after us, I know he'll go after them. I'll take care of Kai. We'll be fine with the door sealed, and we'll double check this room for any more doors. Get them, get back. We'll stay in here until Mr. Dickenson is contacted. It seems that the staff here don't give a damn about the residents. So, forget them. Get them, get back. Now." My glare didn't waver as the two nodded, obeying and leaving. I locked the door behind them and then gathered a willing Kai in my arms. I set him on the side of the tub before checking the entire bathroom for trap doors, anything that could bring that killer into our room. I turned on the faucet of the tub on cold, motioning for Kai to keep his wrist under the very lightly running water while I checked the rest of the room. I asked Dizzy to do the same on the blueprints.

We came up with nothing.

I took Dizzy into the bathroom with me and set her on the counter, lid closed. "I asked her to do some more research on who our attacker is. There's gotta be something," I muttered, grabbing the first aid kit under the sink for all occupants and opening it.

We sat in silence as I splinted and wrapped his wrist, placing a cold compress on it afterwards to help the swelling even more. I held his wrist in my hands and sighed, my thoughts and mind realizing that I could have lost him just a few moments before. The killer, the lunatic, had my Kai - read once again: MY Kai - by the wrist, winded, in pain. If I'd acted any slower, he could have dragged Kai into the pathway and killed him. He could have taken my phoenix away from me.

Damn it, I was crying.

Kai said something so soft, I didn't hear it as I welcomed him into my arms and he me. I clung to him, my body shaking in the fear. I couldn't lose Kai. I'd die first, and even then, the spirit is strong. I kissed his neck, his ear, his cheek, his nose, his forehead, his eyes, his lips. I kissed him, and he kissed back.

Calming down took a few moments, but it happened. I sighed, nuzzling his ear as his head rested on my shoulder. He was in my lap. We were in the floor. I didn't know when we had ended up in the floor, but we had. My back was against the cabinets, door handle pressing uncomfortably into my shoulder blade. I shifted to relieve the pressure and get Kai even more comfortable.

"Miguel," my phoenix trailed off, violets meeting my blues. He understood my actions. I understood his. Squeezing him again, I prayed to any god above who would listen to spare Kai's life. He had so much to live for. So much of life to find out. He was still a kid to many things. I had introduced him to ice cream just the past week. He looked so much like a child, so happy, so intrigued. There was even more out there for him to know. I couldn't lose him. Please, don't let me lose him.

We stayed like that for the longest while. Neither of us wanted to move. We were safe.

A far-off scream reached our ears.

Kai's head snapped up.

"Tyson."

-S-S-S-S-S-

Creepy. So, figured out who the culprit is? Is it the actual boogeyman? Or something or someone more sinister? More strange? More insane?

Mmmmn.....I'm having fun. ^^

Don't forget to review!

Enjoy the rest of your day, but remember at night to not look under the bed.


	4. The Games Begin

Disclaimer: Don't own.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Under the Bed

-The Games Begin-

-S-S-S-S-S-

"Tyson," Kai whispered, eyes widening as the thought came across his mind. Tyson's voice seemed to echo through the room, even though he knew it was impossible, just his mind playing tricks. He stood anyway, scrambling to the door of the bedroom. He would have opened it had it not been kept shut by another hand on its wooden surface. Violet orbs looked to the arm's host, blues meeting him in a stern gaze.

"You're not going," Miguel stated firmly, his tanned face in a frown.

"Miguel," Kai protested, glaring at his lover. How could the Spaniard say such? Tyson was his teammate, his friend, his rival. How could he not try and save him?

"I'll go, but you are staying here." The blonde positioned himself between his boyfriend and the door. He hugged the phoenix tightly. "You're hurt. You need to stay here. I'll go. Just stay here or neither of us are walking out this door."

Kai didn't return the hug, slightly irritated with the gargoyle, but as the realization of his arm came into context, he knew the blonde was right. He was of no use to anyone at the present time. Pain still throbbed uncontrollably from the top of his wrist to his elbow and then his shoulder. His fingers tingled with discomfort as if the blood was cut off from circulating to the appendages. One wrong move, or one wrong bump, and the phoenix would be at the mercy of the enemy. Not that he'd actually admit that pain bothered him. He'd learned at a young age to disregard it, but it still hurt. Being with Miguel brought back that thought. He wouldn't be able to grasp anything. He wouldn't be able to even make a fist, let alone grip his launcher.

"Damn it," the Russian growled, head bent. How had he become so weak in such a short time? He thought that loving someone made one stronger. It didn't. What had happened to him? All those teachings, punishments, practicing. Was it all for nothing? To go down the drain as soon as he fell in love? His grandfather had warned him, beat him with that knowledge every day of his young life to where he thought he was incapable of such things as love. How had he forgotten? Had his barriers melted that much? Had Miguel done that much damage?

The phoenix pulled back, staring the blonde haired teen in the eyes, sea blues washing over him. He studied his boyfriend just as he was being studied. He didn't feel weak. He didn't feel strong. He didn't feel anything as he gazed into those eyes. Not pain, not sadness, not self-loathing, nothing. Did Miguel have that strong a hold on him?

"Kai, please stay here, for me?"

Yes, he did.

Kai nodded, mouth set in a firm line, posture rigid. Something flashed in the gargoyle's eyes as he turned to the door, hand on the gold knob.

A hug came from behind, a small up-turned nose buried deep in between his shoulder blades.

Kai couldn't be mad at his boyfriend. He couldn't blame him. He couldn't loath him. He tried. He honestly did, but nothing came. Nothing but the love and worry for him came. He squeezed hard against the Spaniard's chest cavity. "Please be careful. Come back to me," he pleaded softly, almost as a whisper. Tears stung his eyes.

Miguel let go of the door and placed his hands on top of Kai's, warming them. He stared softly at the floor, feeling the shudders of sadness coming from his lover. "I promise. You and I will walk out of here alive. I promise, Kai."

The phoenix's body trembled as he let go of his lover. Miguel didn't even look back or wait for anything more to happen. He left, shutting the door quickly behind him, and raced down the hall. Kai, just as quickly, locked the door, even as tears poured down and sobs racked his body.

He had a bad feeling, the ice gripping his stomach in a painful grasp, not willing to let go. Something bad was going to happen, and he feared that it included Miguel. Gods, he feared it so much he couldn't think. It took him the longest time to realize that he was kneeling on the floor in front of the wooden hunk, one hand reaching up to the lock, the other on the knob. His attempts to see beyond the water failed as more came and trickled down his face, clear against the blue shark fins on his cheeks.

"Fuck it," the phoenix sorrowed, pressing his face to the door as hard as he dared. He cried. He cried hard. His head hurt. His nose was stopped up. His breathing was labored and hitched every so often in a hiccup. He didn't just cry. He bawled. He let it all out. His friends were dead, his teammates. His only family in life were gone, and he could lose the only anchor he had. For an odd reason, he felt like his life was over. The door symbolized his separation from Miguel, his barrier from saving his lover from his untimely end.

Damn that door.

-S-S-S-

Miguel kept his face and emotions passive and focused as he left Kai in the only safe room in the inn. Kai was safe. Kai would be fine.

So, why did he feel like he had just committed murder?

He had to keep his thoughts straight as he raced down the velvet carpeted hallway to Tyson and Max's room. More screams filled his ears as he got closer. They were distant, pained, tears coating each and every cry. Eventually, they ended in a squelching sound and gurgle.

The door was cracked.

He peered through the crack, wanting to assess the situation before barging in. The window was open, the glass broken, the curtains blowing in the harsh wind of the storm that still raged outside. Tyson, nor Max, could not be seen, but Bryan was visible as well as a pale arm underneath an overturned bookcase.

"Oh, gods, Tala, Bryan," Miguel whimpered, covering his mouth.

Bryan lay in the middle of the room, face up, arms and legs stretched out in a relaxed pose. Blood oozed out of punctured skin. The pale flesh was bent in many places, the limbs seeming like jelly trapped inside a mold. His once pure Russian face had been smashed in, nose flat, eyes blooded, teeth gone as the lips fell in over clean, yet bloody, gums. In the center of his chest was a huge indentation, and it traveled down to his abdomen, legs, and feet. A large hammer, with the head the size of a large man's fist, lay beside him, discarded and bloody.

The bookshelf looked more inviting with just the one pale arm sticking out, lifeless. Miguel knew it was Tala's body underneath the large furniture. A small gold ring sat on the middle finger. Bryan's promise ring to Tala on their anniversary the previous year.

The gargoyle outside the door gulped down the wave of nausea, sadness, and fear before opening the door, his blues scanning for any sign of life in case the killer was still there. No one moved. He ventured in, sidestepping Bryan's corpse and avoiding looking at it. Glancing into the bathroom doorway, he spotted Max on the floor, not breathing, towel wrapped around his pale, bruising neck. His once bright blue eyes stared up at Miguel, cloudy, lifeless, gone. The Spaniard shook his head in disbelief before going in search of Tyson. Moving to the window, he tried to avoid the rain that pilfered through as he looked downwards to the overgrown gardens. A small, crumpled form met him from the bushes and concrete. A red hat was caught on a bush's branch.

"Tyson," Miguel mourned, lowering his head in a silent prayer before straightening. He had to get back to Kai. There wasn't anything more he could do for his friends.

"Knock, knock," a scratched voice sounded behind him.

The blonde jumped, turning at once to see the creature that had been on Dizzy's computer screen. The yellow skin looked brighter in person, the eyes wilder. A hideous, broad grin met him, white teeth flashing.

"Knock, knock," the somewhat human sang again, presenting a tarnished gun, handheld. He aimed it at Miguel's chest.

The gargoyle gulped down the fear before answering in a shaky voice, "Who's there?"

The thing tilted its head to the side, black tangled locks following suite. "Interrupting Cow."

Miguel cocked an eyebrow. Where was this guy going with the knock-knock joke? "Interrupt-"

"Moo!" The yellow humanoid began laughing hysterically, bending over, gun completely forgotten in his hand. His laughs were almost human, just as wild as his eyes, just as psychotic as his actions. It was high pitched, squeaking in hitches, loud, crazy.

Miguel blinked. Huh? His more reasonable mind thought that this killer was using the joke as a distraction from what was about to come, but another part of his mind pointed out that the man was actually enjoying and laughing at his own joke, no matter how childish it sounded.

The Spaniard decided to use this to his advantage and inched towards the door, the killer not even following him, too busy relishing his jest. Miguel got half-way across the room before the yellowed man stopped laughing and pointed the gun at him again, smiling still. He didn't seem to mind that the gargoyle was closer to the door, further from him. He just continued to stand there, pointing the well-aimed gun, and smiling.

"Knock, knock," his voice sounded again, almost human that time.

"Who's there?" Miguel decided to keep playing along.

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

"Knock, knock."

'I know this one,' the Spaniard mused in his mind, but played along. "Who's there?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?" Each time he answered, he scooted closer to the door, passed Bryan's body and Tala's arm.

"Knock, knock." The green eyes never left him, black hair blowing furiously in the wind and rain, but he paid no mind, stepping closer to the hostage.

"Who's there?" Another step.

"Banana." Step.

"Banana who?"

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?" Step.

"Orange." Step. The gun never wavered.

"Orange who?" Miguel took two steps.

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" The killer started laughing again, grasping his sides.

That was when Miguel made a dash for the door. He would have made it had a searing pain not ripped through his shoulder, sending him crashing into the door facing and twisting him around to face his friends' killer from the floor, back shutting the door completely. His breath came out in short gasps, hand reaching up to grasp his shoulder, pressing against the through-and-through wound of the bullet. He gulped down the build-up of saliva and stared into the cold eyes of the insane. The yellow creature before him tilted his head to the side again in curiosity before bringing the gun up again. Miguel shut his eyes tight, waiting for the sound of a gunshot and the piercing bullet through his chest.

He didn't expect the sharp sensation on the side of his head, dead on the temple.

-S-S-S-

Kai sniffed, wiping his eyes with the heel of his good hand, his back against the door. He took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out his mouth, calming himself. He stared at the ceiling until he calmed down completely, his mind clear, numb. Standing on still-shaking legs, he made his way back to the bathroom. After relieving himself, he flushed, washed, and grabbed Dizzy, heading to the bed near the window. His eyes still felt puffy, the bridge of his nose a dull pain, his headache no better than when he first started crying, his temples screaming in agony from the sharp throbs. Settling himself against the headboard, the sweatshirt that smelled of his boyfriend the only thing keeping him warm besides the sweat pants, he opened the laptop and greeted the bitbeast with a small, forced smile.

Dizzy decided not to press the subject of why the phoenix looked the way he did. Instead, she opted to tell him what she had found out. "I did some research, and found a few little details that you should know about, Kai." At the teen's tired nod, she continued. "Well, you know how I said this place used to house the insane?"

"Mentally disabled," Kai corrected dully.

"Yeah, mentally disabled, well, I found out a little more about that. Like I had said before, the doctors in the mental facility were so bad to the patients and so horrible about paperwork, that they just eventually stopped carrying anything on anyone. Well, when the government officials came around to start doing routine inspections, they were in trouble. They had over half of patients that didn't have papers stating their illnesses, records, or even family members. They decided to take matters in their own hands. After all, no one would miss an insane person with no record of them being there."

"They killed their patients?"

"Yeah, every single one they didn't have information on. Well, almost every one. There was this one that had no papers, but he was as strong as an ox and fought off the other doctors, escaping through the tunnels and pathways of the inn. No one ever saw or heard from him again."

"What was wrong with him that you would bring this up, Dizzy?" the phoenix asked, intrigued.

"Well, I found the patient's file, actually. They found it later on but didn't know who's it was. So, they kept it just in case it was one of the other patients. It didn't fit any of the other pictures with the other files. So, I did a little more digging and connected it with the escapee. Kyler Gaffers was born into a semi-wealthy family but was pronounced insane by killing his father and mother at the age of six. His aunt sent him to Sard's Institute, which is our beloved inn, and he stayed there until his escape a year before the place shut down."

"What was wrong with him?"

"Well, that's where I started thinking about this boogeyman thing. The children called him the boogeyman for a reason."

"And that being the fact that he doesn't harm children who are asleep completely on the bed," the phoenix had no idea where the computer trapped bitbeast was going.

"Well, so I thought. As I started reading this guy's file, I started piecing together the different habits he does. He was diagnosed with an acute case of schizophrenia; he thinks he's a child. Things fascinate him just like they would a child. It's possible he knew all about the boogeyman when he was younger because schizophrenic patients aren't know for their sleeping habits. He probably started believing he was the boogeyman after the children started calling him that. That thought and the fact he thinks like a child are probably the reasoning behind what's been happening. It also could be that he's found an interest in something related to killing."

"So, he's been killing because it fascinates him?"

"No, the thought of killing fascinates him. He just does it to mimic whatever it is he is interested in. I also found out that they tried shock therapy on him. The electroconvulsive treatment probably didn't help with his diagnosis. It probably made his condition worse."

Kai nodded. Everything seemed to make sense, except one thing. "Why is his skin yellow?"

"I looked up things that could cause the skin to turn yellow." She pulled up a web site. "An STD called syphilis."

Thin eyebrows furrowed. "But if this is our guy, then how did he get it? There's no reports of rape or anything like that."

"Syphilis can be started by bacteria in an untreated infection around the genitals," she stated smartly. "With him being a grown man, no matter how much of a kid he thinks like, he's still going to have those urges of a man. I think you can piece together the rest." She gave the phoenix a moment to put the puzzle pieces together. At his snarl in disgust, she continued. "Syphilis can turn the skin yellow and it also affects the mind and body. It doesn't help the situation that he was already crazy. He's just getting crazier. In a few years even, without treatment, he won't even be able to get out of his bed without help, let alone kill someone. It's still in its earlier stages, though. That's why he's still so strong and quick."

"That means that we are dealing with an actual person," Kai murmured, astounded.

"Yeah, kinda even more freaky going against an actual person than a demon, huh?"

Kai didn't get a chance to answer as a knock came at his door. He frowned, his mind and heart hoping that it was Miguel, though why the Spaniard would knock was beyond his knowledge. He stood, setting Dizzy on the bed, and walked over to the wooden hunk. Pressing his ear to the door, he called through to the other side, "Who is it?"

The knocking continued as if the question hadn't been asked. Kai's brow furrowed even more, and his hand went to the knob. The dead bolt lock was still in place, and the killer liked to use the tunnels, didn't he?

As the phoenix opened the door to see who was on the other side, another thought raced through his mind. The tunnel to that room had been blocked off.

Even as the door cracked open, it flew, the chain breaking out of its holding. The wooden thing hit the teen dead center in the chest, knocking him not only to the floor but also the breath out of his body. Kai lay there for a good minute, trying to get air back into his lungs. Dizzy cried his name from the bed when a large shadow overtook him. Violets glanced upward, still slightly dizzy from the harsh impact, and gazed into a set of crazy green orbs bloodshot from being in the dark for so long. The phoenix gasped and scrambled backward, the man's head tilting to the side, wondering why there was only one person in the room but two different voices.

Kai stood on unsteady legs, just trying to get away from the maniac. He took a defensive stance a good few feet away from the man, glaring hatefully. Yeah, his wrist was broken. Yeah, his friends were dead. Yeah, he was scared shitless, but that didn't mean that he had the right to be a coward. At the age of six, he was standing up to Boris Balcov and the beatings the purple haired man loved to give him. There was no way that he was going to let a schizophrenic person get the better of him. "Where is Miguel?" he asked the man, his face, his tone, his stature mimicking the title he had been given over the years. Dangerous.

Kyler Gaffers didn't seem to understand him for he walked around the room, head tilting this way and that in confusion and curiosity. "Who?" he muttered absentmindedly as he stroked the curtains in awe.

"The blonde guy that stayed in this room with me. Where is he?" Kai figured if this guy had the mind of a child, he better think like a child to get answers.

The head perked up at that. "Oh! He in a room. He in a room, safe! He's my playmate, my friend!" The man seemed so excited at the mentioning of Miguel. He jumped up and down in happiness, the way children often do when asked about a beloved topic. "We're gonna play a game later! Yes, later! He played the knock-knock game with me. We're gonna play again later. He's taking a nap otherwise we'd play now."

'That means, Miguel's unconscious,' the teen mused. At least his boyfriend was alive. "I have to talk to him about something. Can you take me to him, Kyler?" he asked gently, slightly lowering his defensive stance.

The man stopped, seeming to recognize his name. "You know my name? Why stranger know my name?"

'Think, Kai, think.' "I'm a friend, too. My name is Kai. I'm a friend."

Kyler understood the word friend. He beamed, smile stretching from one side of his face to the other in maniac joy. He rushed up to the phoenix, wrapping his arms around the slim neck in a firm hug. "Friend! I have another friend! Friend Kai!" He let go and bounced around in circles.

Kai smirked a little at the antic. The guy may have killed his friends, but he was a child inside and got excited just like a child. The smirk faded when the man produced a tarnished gun with speckles of blood coating the metal.

"Let's play!" He fired the gun, not really aiming, and hit the wall. Kai flinched, ducking, and rushed to the door.

"Now, Kyler, I don't want to play that game. Let's play something else," he reasoned, hand outstretched as he backed out of the doorway, Kyler following.

"Okay, let's play cat and mouse! You be the mouse! I'll be the cat!" He charged, and Kai ran.

The Russian teen could fight. He was able to kick a grown man's ass from Tokyo to San Francisco in 2.3 seconds. He was able to disarm a US Navy Seal by the time he was ten, but there was one thing that he didn't mess with. A crazy man with a gun.

Dashing down the hallway, he rushed towards the stairs, knowing there was nothing in the other direction for him. He needed to get out of the building, or somewhere he could get the man to drop the gun and knock him unconscious, leaving the phoenix free to search for Miguel. So, as he reached the stairway, he chanced a glance behind him, noting that the "cat" was right on his tail. Kai bit back his fear and started running down the steps, careful not to trip or miss a few steps, sending himself off balance. The stairs were a total of three flights, each connected by a sharp turn that would eventually become a spiral. He finished the first flight of 18 steps before the sound of a gunshot filled the air. A blistering pain erupted in his right thigh, his leg going numb within a few seconds. He crumpled, shoulders and face hitting the red carpet sharply and then proceeding down the staircase in a roll. He tumbled head first, legs first, shoulder first down the long stairwell before coming to a sickening stop at the lobby's wall.

Violet eyes watched dizzily as a foggy figure made its way down the stairs at a more elaborate pace. The yellow skin and green eyes entered his vision just before oblivion slammed down upon his consciousness.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Cliffy, I know, but that's how it's been all through the story! ^^; No killing me! Miguel and Kai aren't dead....yet. ^^ (evil laugh)

Find out what happens in the next chapter! Should be up soon! All ideas are written down, just waiting to be typed into a chapter! So, keep a look out! ^^

Don't forget to review!

Enjoy the rest of your day, but remember at night to not look under the bed.


	5. Three Blind Mice

Disclaimer: Don't own.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Under the Bed

-Three Blind Mice-

-S-S-S-S-S-

_Drip_.

_Scurry_.

_Drip_.

_Squeak_, _snip_.

What the fuck?

Thoughts came to my mind sluggishly, the thick fog preventing them from making any sense until it lifted. My head pounded in time with the rushing of information. My back hurt, lying on what felt like cold concrete. My shoulder hurt and throbbed along with my head, and I could feel hot liquid still seeping from the puckered and swollen hole of my gunshot wound. My breathing was shallow to my own ears as numbness and cold swept over my body. Goose bumps roamed my entire shivering, sore frame. I could still hear the noises of something scurrying around and the dripping of water from a leaky pipe somewhere to my left. Groaning, I shifted my head, straining my eyes open to gaze around. They blurred for several seconds before focusing on a dim light in the ceiling. I blinked, trying to rid myself of the rest of the fog. Where was I?

Shifting my head slowly - it hurt so much - I glanced around. My arms were stretched out to my sides, my legs the same. My body was so cold and numb, I figured that was the reason I didn't know my wrists and ankles were tied down with rope.

Okay, someone's got a sick sense of humor.

I winced again as my head pounded in pain, my vision swimming back and forth behind closed eyelids. Nausea swept across me, but I pushed it down with a gulp and tested the ropes. I had to get out of there. Kai needed me. I had to get to him.

The ropes wouldn't budge.

They were old, mildewed, scraggly, bit into my skin, but I just couldn't seem to break them. It may have been the headache preventing my strength from returning. I didn't know; my head floating prevented any coherent thought. Where was Kai? I needed to get to him. He was hurt. He needed me.

Where was I again?

Oh, right. Tied up in some sort of basement.

What was that scurrying sound?

Rats.

Wait...rats? Rats!

I gasped as I looked around, horrified at the sights. Hundreds of black, gray, and white sewer rats moved about in cages that lined the walls and floor only ten feet from where I lay. Sewer rats! Why did it have to be them? They were huge! My head swam even more at the thought of those rodents tearing into my skin. They all looked very hungry, what with some of them even dead, the others feasting on the corpses. I shuddered in repulsion.

"Three blind mice," a voice sang, the broken, hoarse sound reverberating off the bare walls. "Three blind mice. See how they run. See how they run."

I chanced a look over to where the song came from. There stood the man who had knocked me out. The one who had shot me. He stood there in his yellow skin, dirty whites, and greasy, tangled hair. There he stood, singing.

There he stood with my boyfriend slung over his shoulder.

"Kai!" I called, jerking up, pulling at the restraints with new strength, headache forgotten. "Kai!"

My phoenix was unconscious, and blood pooled around the two from a wound in his leg and forehead. He was hurt. At this man's hands! I growled low in my throat, soft blue eyes turning hard. I could feel my bitbeast, Dark Gargoyle, try and take over my body, my canines sharpening like a vampire's. Only two thoughts ran through my mind as I snarled up at the green eyes.

He hurt Kai.

He was going to die.

I pulled. I tugged. I thrashed against the supernatural restraints. There was no way that they were something man-made. They had to be from another world. Nothing that decayed, that old, would be able to hold out against my struggles.

The man on the staircase above me tilted his head to the side. I was getting so sick and tired of that! Only MY phoenix was able to cock his head to the side in confusion! No one else, especially the one who hurt said phoenix!

"Friend," he muttered loud enough for me to hear. He smiled, that maniac smile that stretched from ear to ear. "Friend! We gonna play a game!"

"What kind of game," I growled.

"It's a fun game," he reasoned.

"Is Kai going to play?" I asked. I had to know. Was my phoenix going to be in more danger?

He shook his head as if the suggestion was uncalled for. "No! No, of course not! Friend Kai and me will play later. Right now, you and me play!" He reached over and presented a long rope, one of two. "First part!" he cried, tugging.

I didn't know what happened. One minute, I was staring up at this crazed man; the next, I had glass, shards of glass, all around me, in me, on top of me. I screamed as a piercing pain ripped through my body like lightning. Luckily, nothing big punctured anything on my upper torso other than my arms and a few scratches on my face. It was my legs and feet that took most of the damage. I had a large piece of glass sticking straight up in my right leg. My shin burned. If my breathing was shallow before, it was ragged and heavy then. Tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. I tried to suppress the pain with a few grunts and gasps. Kai had taught me a little of that technique for beybattling. It let me stay in the game much longer, but this pain was nothing compared to a hit from in the arena. It hurt. A lot.

The oversized rodents in the cages squeaked louder, piling up on top of one another, attempting to get of their cages over to me. They smelled fresh meat.

Gulping down another wave of nausea, I tried to ease my breathing and tugged at the ropes again. One of my hands snapped free, seeing as how a piece of glass had sliced through a corner of the rope. Taking a deep breath and steeling myself, I twisted and turned, getting to my other hand. My leg was still pinned by the shard of glass, and it made maneuvering much more difficult. Grunting and letting out a few small cries, I managed to loosen the rope.

"No," his voice called, or rather echoed. "No, you're not playing by the rules!" He stomped his foot down angrily, Kai's form bouncing a little on his shoulder.

I growled, "Of course not, you sick fuck! I don't want to play your games." I glared hatefully at my boyfriend's captor. "Now, let Kai go."

He shook his head, a clear pout and angered expression on his face. "No," he wined like a spoiled child. "I wanna play a game."

I couldn't stop the rest of the growls from escaping my throat. "I don't care. We don't want to play your games."

"But you said we were friends! Friends play games."

"I never said I was your friend."

He stopped, thinking on that. I hadn't said that, had I? I couldn't remember ever saying I was a friend of his. I didn't want to be a friend of his! I wanted Kai. I wanted out of that hell hole. I wanted to lay my boyfriend down next to me on our bed at home. I sure as hell didn't want to be where I was talking to the person - or thing - I was talking to.

That didn't make sense. Yes, it did. Okay, in my mind it made sense.

The creature - that's what I'm calling him, get over it - stomped his foot again. "But we're friends. You played my game with me earlier. We friends. Friend Kai is a friend. He'd play."

I shook my head. "No one would play this sick game! It hurts people. You're hurting me. Friends don't hurt friends in any way."

"I'm hurting you?" He tilted his head again. Gah! Stop doing that! "How?"

"Glass tends to hurt people when it's dropped on top of them," I said, rolling my eyes. "Blood isn't exactly a human's way of saying they like being stabbed."

"But I'm having fun," he tried to argue.

"You're not the one who's at the brunt end of your games."

He frowned in thought, yellowed lip puckered out in a pout. He shook his head. "I don't believe you. You're just being mean. Meany!" He pulled the other rope.

_Snap_.

Oh, shit.

Clicking sounds echoed around me as each cage opened. The rats reveled in the freedom before heading over to the source of food.

Namely me!

I glanced, very briefly, back up at the man as he took away my Kai. Tugging and straining, I tried so hard to get the ropes off my ankles before those rodents got to me. I had to live through this. Kai needed me. I had to save him before he became a victim of that idiot's games.

I didn't get the ropes off before the rats swarmed on top of me with their teeth, claws, and beady eyes.

"Ahhhh!"

-S-S-S-S-S-

(hides behind security building) Don't kill me! Next chapter is up! Next chapter is up! Click the 'Next Chapter' button!

(continues to hide)


	6. Where There's Smoke, There's Fire

Disclaimer: Don't own.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Under the Bed

-Where There's Smoke, There's Fire-

-S-S-S-S-S-

Silence. Nothing but pure quiet. A roaring in his ears tried to defy the silence, but failed in comparison to volume.

Groaning, he came to, slowly.

Violet orbs blinked tiredly, fluttering every so often. Where was he? His body felt numb, but yet, he knew it was because he was in so much pain. A white tiled ceiling greeted his dizzy sight. He almost wished he could pass out again. The overhead florescent light blared down upon his senses, and he squinted around it to take in the rest of the small room, asserting himself first.

He was strapped down. It was almost like a dentist's chair, but his arms and legs were strapped down by thick, worn belts that seemed to still live up to their name of restraints. A poorly designed metal wiring wrapped around the sides of the belts, the cool bite harsh against his feverish skin. It was then he remembered he had been shot. As he glanced down at his leg - which was very awkward considering his position - he noticed the fabric of the sweat pants had been ripped apart around the bullet wound. It was a through-and-through, and the skin he could see was puckered, swollen, leaking a puss-filled liquid along with blood. The once pale skin was tainted with black, purple, and red, angry looking. It was infected. That was where his fever was coming from, along with the added sense of fog at his consciousness.

Leaning his head back down on the padded seat, he took in a few deep breaths to calm himself and settle his mind and vision before gazing around the room.

A small, twin bed occupied the corner. It was ratty, unmade, about to cave in around the foot. Beside it was an equally tiny shelf littered with movies on top, in the open drawer, and on the floor. Each tape was neatly placed in its respectful stack. From his improving vision, Kai Hiwatari managed to recognize many of them as horror movies. Bryan had collected horror movies. In fact, his collection included a lot of those movies.

Moving passed those, he spotted the outdated television set. A movie was playing on it, the sound muted in a deafening silence. Kai payed no attention to it as he spotted more suspense movies on the floor around the TV. Various movies. _House of Wax_, _The Hitcher _with C. Thomas Cowell, _The Hills Have Eyes I _and _II_, _Valentine_, _Silent Rage_.

'Wait a minute,' the phoenix muttered in his mind, sluggishly trying to piece things together. Then, it hit him.

Each movie consisted of a death scene he had witnessed!

In _Silent Rage_, the villain's first victims were killed by an axe. Lee and Ray were mutilated by an axe. Hillary had been decapitated. In _House of Wax_, a guy is decapitated as a form of death before being dragged off by one of the killers. Kai tried to go through his mind all of the death scenes in the movies he saw. He hadn't seen Tyson, Max, Tala, or Bryan's deaths - he knew each one of them were gone. There was no way he wouldn't hear from Tala of all people. Dizzy had mentioned that the killer was infatuated with murder, the thought of it. What if he was getting the ideas from the movies? Most up-to-date hotels have a variety of entertainment for their guests, some including movie rentals. He could have gotten the movies from there, and also, guests are known to leave behind an item or two when they leave. Some could have left behind movies in the rooms with television sets. Kyler must have seen his first horror movie, and like any kid, which his mind was, became obsessed with them. Kai knew that the man could read. Most people could. Otherwise, how would the man know which movies were horror and suspense and which were other types?

The phoenix wielder chanced a look up at the TV again, watching the muted movie. He'd seen it before. One of Bryan's favorites, _The Bone Collector _with Densel Washington as the main character. The movie was playing a part where the killer had tied down his victim, strewn slashes along his body, and released a set of rats upon the unsuspecting male. 'Please, no,' Kai pleaded, hoping he was wrong.

It was in that moment that Kyler Gaffers walked through the door. He smiled that stretched grin. "Hi," he greeted before looking at the TV in confusion. He chuckled a little and turned back to Kai. "That's what Friend and I just got done doing a while ago! It was so much fun! Fun game!" He clapped his hands together excitedly.

The information took the longest time to register into Kai's brain. It took the entire time of Kyler going over to the TV, turning the movie and set off, placing the VHS back in its case and then back on its stack, and then turning back to the phoenix again. Kai blinked. He shook his head, normally wide eyes even wider at the thought. He had a look of pure repugnance on his face as he gazed up at the man that had probably just killed his boyfriend.

"No," the teen whispered, shaking his head. "No, it can't be. It just can't be true." He shook his head again, getting louder. "No. No. No!" The thought fully sank in, and Kai struggled against his bindings. He twisted, he pushed, he shifted just to get out from underneath those belts. "You bastard!"

Kyler stopped smiling as he heard the familiar vulgar name.

"You bastard! You killed him! You killed Miguel!" Tears leaked unknowingly out of the violet orbs. Kai fought harder against the belts. "You killed him!"

Kyler shook his head, holding it between his hands. "No, no, you mustn't yell, Friend Kai. No yelling."

"I'll fucking yell if I want to! You killed him! How could you? How?" Kai lost all sense of calm. Gone was the cool, collected Russian teen that seemed older than he was. Gone was the leader, the captain that kept his teammates together. Gone was the loving, caring boyfriend and friend. Gone was Kai Hiwatari. In its place was a being so blood-thirsty, so revengeful, it would have made the Devil and his followers cringe in fear. He pushed his arm upwards, smirking maniacally as the leather and metal wiring broke, leaving a burn on the skin in its resistence. One arm was free.

"The lightning," Kyler whimpered, rushing to cower behind the opened door.

Kai was sitting up, one arm loose and tearing at the other's restraint when he stopped, chest jerking outwards. He lost all sense of balance, eyes wide, mouth open, limbs flopping and bucking in uncontrollable motions. His breath caught in his throat. He couldn't breathe. The sheer pain, the absolute white agony ripped through him. His skin burned even as it produced a thick sheen of sweat to cool off. "Ga," Kai could only manage out, his voice not even wanting to work.

Abruptly, it ended just as it had begun.

Kai's breath came out in a gasp as his body went limp. His fingers twitched with the rest of his body. His eyes glazed in pain, unseeing, feeling nothing but the torment. His breath was in pants for a while before they slowed to an almost dangerous level. His fever sky-rocketed, his mind hurting along with his body. After a few seconds of bliss, another shock raced through his frame, doubling him over on one side. It lasted two seconds before letting go. He puffed again, throat raw and mouth dry.

"You mustn't yell," Kyler whispered over and over again. "The lightning doesn't like it when you yell."

'Electroshock,' the phoenix's tired mind mumbled as another wave made him curl in on himself once more. 'It must be set to a volume control. That's why the TV's muted.'

The teen trembled, tears leaking down his painted cheeks. "Miguel," he whimpered, sobs wanting to rack his body, but he was so tired. "Miguel."

Kyler stepped out from his crouched position behind the door. He tilted his head to the side yet again, confused, keeping his distance from the seat. "Why is Friend Kai crying?" he asked sincerely.

Kai didn't answer him as he stared off into space, trying to imagine his beloved blonde. His scattered brain realized he could feel the Spaniard's necklace around his neck. The chain was heavy but lightweight against his sensitive skin. The dog tag cooled off one section of his chest. Miguel had given him his grandfather's dog tag a month before on their third month anniversary. That dog tag meant a lot to the teen. It was the only thing left of his grandfather's that hadn't been pawned for the much-needed money. Miguel had received it on his fifteenth birthday. He had given it to Kai as a symbol of how much he cared for the phoenix.

Kai never took it off.

That thought brought more tears to the teen's eyes. His chest shook along with his body as he tried to control the weeps. It didn't help.

Kyler shook his head again. "No, Friend Kai, no crying. The lightning will come back."

Kai snorted in the ironic humor. "I don't care," he whispered. "I don't care anymore."

"Why?"

The phoenix shifted his eyes numbly to the blood-shot green ones above him. "You killed the only thing in my life worth living for. I have nothing now. Therefore, I don't care if I die."

Kyler Gaffers didn't seem to understand as he blinked and then turned around, seeming to search for another movie. 'Probably to come up with another game for us to play,' the teen mused insensibly. He moved his head to look at the ceiling, tears leaking freely down his cheeks. Miguel's face came to mind. His sea blue orbs. His golden hair. His bright smile. His addicting laugh. Kai missed everything about the male; the lovemaking, the kisses, the conversations, the quiet moments, the understanding. He missed all of it. Closing his eyes, he knew what he had to do.

Steeling himself, he tensed his body, took in a deep breath, and screamed at the top of his lungs. He let it all out, the anguish, the sadness, the anxiety, everything.

Kyler didn't have time to stop the phoenix as a high voltage electrical current whipped through the cords into the teen's body. The man cringed back as sparks bounced and danced from the torn wiring. His friend was screaming. His friend was letting the lightning hurt him. But why?

Even as the wiring at the base of the seat caught on fire, Kyler tried to understand why his friend was causing himself pain. The lightning stopped, and Kai's body dropped back to the white padding, twitching. The once violet eyes were clouded over, the strong chest no longer moving as the flames grew higher and stronger, moving around the room. The man didn't know what to do. He just sat there as the unfamiliar heat got closer to his own body. It was so pretty. He wanted to touch it. It flared with beauty. He reached out a hand. Yellow seemed to mix in with the reds and oranges as they overcame.

Kai was in a state of nothingness, his outside body not even noticing the cries of pain from an unknown source. His mind wandered aimlessly in the black abyss, knowing it would receive nothing if searching. 'Miguel,' he thought. He wanted his gargoyle, his Spaniard, his boyfriend. 'Miguel.'

"Kai!"

-S-S-S-S-S-

Both were short and sweet cause I wanted to get them up at the same time. Mainly cause I didn't want angry readers after me. ^^;

So, who has come to our beloved phoenix's rescue? What will happen next? Will Kai survive?

Find out next time, and don't forget to review!

Enjoy the rest of your day, but remember at night to not look under the bed.


	7. The Cavalry is Coming

Disclaimer: Don't own.

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Under the Bed

-The Cavalry is Coming-

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White. It blinds the senses no matter how small an amount. It forms at the edges of the vision before the blackness invades. It's bright. It's harsh.

And it was annoying the hell out of me.

I grunted as I used the pure white wall for support. I swear this place was a hospital, not an inn, and I was a patient. My arms hurt. My legs hurt, especially my right as the calf screamed in pain every time weight was put on it. My head pounded along with the blood flow as it streamed out of the many gashes along my body. Even my face hurt. My shoulder had gone numb an hour back, my arm limp beside me unless I was forced to move it, and even then, it was sluggish.

Who ever thought that the handsome blonde, Miguel Lavalier, would be in that predicament? Not me.

I had been dragged down to the house's cellar, tied up, sliced with glass, and left for the rats, literally. I had managed to free one arm before the rodents were on me, and from then on, I couldn't remember what I did. I somehow was able to get through the rats and their really large teeth and untie myself the rest of the way. It helped that the rodents had chewed through parts of the superhuman rope. I had run out of there, flinging gnawers of my flesh left and right. Up the stairs and down the hall, I was free.

I just had one more thing to take care of - well, two.

One: find Kai.

Two: kill the man that started all of this.

The first was more important than the second. So, there I was, stumbling down the evil white hall in search of any clue as to the whereabouts of my boyfriend. I had been walking for about ten minutes before my vision blurred again, my mind wanting to sleep but my heart telling it to shut the fuck up. I trudged on, realizing that I was nearing the front lobby and the dining room area. Wow, I needed a map.

Stopping, I tried to catch my breath, gasping. I had torn my sweat pants so much to help stop some of the bleeding that I was wearing shorts instead. Well, short-shorts. Kai wouldn't mind the view, but never again would I wear something as this. I was cold, and it wasn't from the blood loss. Of course, if someone is wearing short-shorts and no shirt, yeah, they're gonna be cold.

Duh.

I shook my head again, willing the dizziness and wandering of the mind to stop. Opening my blue orbs, I noticed my surroundings. I was in the dining area with the kitchen to my left and the lobby to my front. Forcing my tired eyes to focus better, I noticed something else.

The entire staff was dead.

The cook, I could see from the open kitchen door, lie on the floor, knife in his chest. Two maids were on either side of him, both still and unmoving, lips blue. I switched my gaze to the front and witnessed the sight of the manager slumped over the counter, throat slit, blood running in rivers from the cut. The three in the kitchen looked as if they'd been dead for a while, but the manager was much more recent. I panted, catching a glimpse of bloody footprints leading away from the scene. They had to be the crazy maniac's. I followed them.

My breath came out in puffs, my blood still dripping from the soaked bandages. If I didn't get help soon, I was afraid I'd pass out, but finding Kai came first. He could be worse off. I just prayed and hoped that he was still alive.

"Miguel?" a voice called, making me jump ten feet in the air. Okay, my feet never left the ground, but give me a break. My heart was racing.

I turned around, spotting a hall table that I had just passed. On top of it was a silver laptop, the screen on. "Dizzy," I breathed, limping over to her.

"Oh, Miguel!" she wailed loud enough to make me cringe. "I thought you were a goner! When he came and took Kai, I waited and waited, but you never came back. Then he came back for me! I thought you two were dead."

I let out a breath in pain as I stepped on my sore leg again. "Almost," I admitted. "I'm searching for Kai. We need to get out of here."

"Damn right. That Kyler is crazy!"

"Kyler?" I asked, frowning.

"Yeah, I found out who he is. Turns out, he is crazy, and he's fascinated with the thought of death, but that's another story."

"Tell me later," I muttered, bracing myself against the table.

"Hey," she said softer, "you don't look good."

"Really? What gave it away, the blood, the pale features? Oh, I know, it was the groaning in pain. I'll try and keep that to a minimum."

"Wow, you're grouchy."

I sighed. I wasn't really mad at her, but yeah, being in that much pain, I was getting grouchy. "Please, Dizzy, can you find Kai?"

She seemed to think for several minutes before pinging. "Yeah, hold on. I think I've got a location on him." I waited for what seemed to be the longest time before a map came on the screen. "This is the inn. Here we are." She put a red dot on the map. "And here's Kai, according to the location chip in his beyblade." Another, but blue, dot appeared.

"Location chip?" I asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Dickenson had all the Bladebreakers put a microchip in the bit of their beyblade. He said it was just in case something happened like it always does."

I nodded, grateful for the older man's oversight. "Can you guide me to Kai? I'm afraid the walls and map are blurring on me."

"Sure."

I gathered her in on hand and tucked her under my wounded arm. At least the dead weight would be good for something. Listening intently, I focused on her voice, trying to keep conscious even as my blood continued down my body and to the floor. We walked for a good few minutes before I stopped. Something didn't seem right. Something was wrong.

"Miguel?" Dizzy's voice came from underneath my arm.

I ignored her and focused on my surroundings, my senses going haywire. Was that Kyler guy there with us? Was he back to finish me off?

A loud scream echoed through the hallway, piercing my ears. My eyes widened as my thoughts realized who's set of pipes the sound came from.

"Kai," the computerized bitbeast voiced my thoughts.

I ignored my body and the pain and sprinted down the hall, running towards the only room with the door opened. Smoke came from the top of the doorway, and I skidded to a halt. Gently placing Dizzy on the floor next to the door, I straightened and chanced a glance in the room. What I saw made my blood run cold.

"Kai!"

Kai lay strapped down to a padded, what looked like a dentist's seat. He wasn't moving other than a few twitches here and there. Fire spread all around him in a sort of protective semicircle. My heart warmed inside my chest as a flaming figure appeared at Kai's side. Dranzer's phoenix form caught my eyes and screeched before disappearing. He had been keeping Kai safe from the fire.

It was my turn.

I dashed into the room, not even bothering to see around me, and made it to my boyfriend's side. I undid the straps and hoisted him into my arms, making it back to the hall far before the flames could even think about touching us. I slid to a stop on my knees beside Dizzy and lay my phoenix on the cool, carpeted floor. I straightened his posture and tilted his head up. He wasn't breathing, his eyes cloudy, almost gone. Oh, please, no. Not Kai.

I place my mouth on his and blew, beginning CPR, delivering blows to his chest and breaths through his mouth so many times I had lost count. I had actually begun to give up. He just wouldn't breathe.

Kai. Please, don't take my Kai. Come back to me, baby. Come on back.

Tears streamed down my face as I continued CPR, my hopes dying along with my lover. "Kai, please, please breathe." I gave another breath.

And it was sucked right out of me.

Kai gasped in air and began coughing. I never thought I'd love to see that sight.

The phoenix below me panted as his breathing got under control, his beautiful violet orbs blinking in pain and confusion. Those eyes met mine, and recognition flashed through them.

"Miguel," the Russian whispered, one hand shakily reaching up to stroke my face. I sniffed and grasped that slightly burned hand and cradled it in my own. I kissed the palm and leaned down, kissing him.

"Come on," I urged gently, tugging him a little, "we have to get going. The fire's spreading."

Kai glanced to his right, noticing the flames were out of the doorway. He nodded sluggishly. "Yeah."

"Can you stand?" I asked, noticing his still twitching body.

He sighed and slowly sat up, wincing in pain. "I'll be fine. You're hurt."

I smiled. Typical Kai, putting others before himself. I reached over to Dizzy and shut her. I knew the way back. Standing, I pulled Kai to his feet, and we helped each other balance while heading down the hall and toward freedom.

"Friend! Friend!"

We stopped, looking behind us. Kyler came rushing out the door, his body covered in flames, his skin burning, his clothes already gone under the fire. His green eyes were wilder than ever, horrified, crazy. He screamed in pain as he rushed to us.

"Friend! It hurts, it hurts!" he cried, the sound shaking the hall in an animalistic wail.

He got closer. I didn't know why we weren't moving. I wasn't scared, more like numb. Kai looked the same, but he was probably just as tired as I was. We gasped as one as Kyler got too close, the fire trying to embrace us with its harmful grasp. I pushed my phoenix to the opposite side of the hallway, out of danger, and diverted the man's attention to me. He got so close, I could feel my entire body warm from the flames' heat. We got closer to the wall, and my fear started sky-rocketing. He wasn't keeling over, dead. His body kept moving, even though I already knew his mind and spirit had gone. The TV and movies lied. I gasped, at the end of my rope, cornered, his burning form almost on top of me.

He dropped at the last second.

I looked up, spotting Kai standing there, a large lamp in his hands, panting and swaying back and forth. I dodged the flames and brought him into my arms just before he fell. I kissed the side of his sweaty head, "Come on. Let's go."

He dropped the lamp, I grabbed Dizzy, and we left the scene and the fire.

The door and the night sky were a welcomed sight. I opened the antique and ushered my boyfriend out of the malevolent inn.

It was just in time, too, as the fire had just reached more of the electrical wiring, and the audible boom came afterwards, knocking us both to the ground. I covered my phoenix as debris fell around us after the first shockwave. I glanced around and yanked my boyfriend to his feet, afraid of another blast. Pushing him in front of me, we made it to the road at the end of the driveway. Collapsing in the ditch, we panted, breathing heavily in the wet grass and moonlight. Kai sat up slowly and stared at the burning building. His eyes watered.

"Tala, Bryan," he breathed, "Max, Tyson, Ray, Kenney, Lee, Hillary." He shook his head. "We shouldn't have let their bodies stay in that place." He growled, tears streaming down those tattooed cheeks as he slammed his burned knuckles into the ground. His cheeks were already pink due to, what I assumed, a fever, but they grew redder as he cried.

I strained upwards, sitting somewhat behind him. I wrapped my bloodied arms around his broad shoulders and pulled him close. I kissed his heated neck softly. "There was nothing we could do, Kai. We had to get out of there."

"You think their souls are at peace?" he mumbled after a little while.

I nodded and pulled him down so we could lay in the cool grass. "Yeah, they are."

He gazed into my blues with his sparkling violets. Nodding, he seemed to agree with me before closing his eyes. He snuggled closer. "'M tired," he murmured against my neck.

I nodded. "Yeah, me, too," I sighed warily. "Let's rest here a while." He agreed and dropped off to slumber, his body still twitching ever so slightly.

I watched him for a while, under the moonlight. Everything seemed to be a dream, a nightmare. I had almost lost my lover. I had almost lost him twice. He was almost dead when I found him. His eyes had been clouded, but they were bright at that moment. He was alive. He was alive. I pulled him closer to my chest, not wanting to let go for the rest of my life.

"Miguel! Kai!"

I looked up with worn-out orbs, spotting a heavy-set, darkly attired, older man. He ran up to us, his face pure worry and anxious.

"Miguel," he glanced around, "where are the others?"

"Mr. Dickenson," I whispered. I blinked, tears forming. I looked down at my sleeping phoenix, and the flood came, all the events the previous few days slamming down on my shoulders. I bawled and felt the older male's comforting hands on my shoulders.

We were finally safe.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Well, one more chappie to go. I hate to say this, but I'm gonna miss this fic. (tear) I had a lot of fun writing it. ^^

Don't forget to review!

Enjoy the rest of your day, but remember at night to not look under the bed.


	8. Time is Short Lived

Disclaimer: Don't own.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Under the Bed

-Time is Short Lived-

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White, yet again invaded the vision, but instead of blurring at the edges, everything was crisp and clear. He didn't know if it was such a good thing.

Miguel Lavalier grunted a little as he maneuvered around another nurse and patient, successfully dancing around his crutches so as to not trip. He sighed, wishing that he had been discharged already. He was ready to go home, but with the police hounding around, wanting to know what exactly happened, Mr. Dickenson asking question after question if he was alright and what to do about the funeral arrangements, and Kai still being situated in ICU, he didn't think he was ever going home.

Yes, his beloved phoenix was in the Intensive Care Unit. Kai ended up going into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital. The doctors informed the Spaniard that it was due to the amount of electricity that Kai's body had sustained. Miguel hadn't known Kai had been electrocuted, but he was sure going to find out why and how. That was why he was slowly trudging to his boyfriend's room. The Russian had finally been permitted visitors after two days. Although Miguel wasn't supposed to be up and about because of his blood loss, he couldn't stay away from his lover. So, when he finally reached Kai's room number, he breathed a sigh of relief before opening the door.

Miguel frowned a little as he witnessed his beloved flinch, jumping sharply at the sound of the click from the door handle. Kai turned around, steeling himself, but stopped as he caught sight of the blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Miguel," he mumbled, his shoulders relaxing.

The Spaniard huffed as he shut the door and moved to the bed. Setting his crutches next to Kai's he limped over to the window where his phoenix stood, staring out the window. The rain had started back up again, the pitter patter sound echoing through the quiet room. Miguel took that time to really look at his lover. The gargoyle did not like what he saw. Large bags under the dull eyes seemed to droop lower each minute, standing out against the even paler skin. Kai was favoring his leg, putting most of his weight on the other. His hands were wrapped in gauze in an effort to keep the burns from getting infected. There was a burn mark along the left side of his neck that reached far beyond the paper hospital gown on the chest. His left wrist was also wrapped heavily because of the break. At least the phoenix didn't look like a mummy, which Miguel thought wasn't fair.

"Is it Halloween already?" Kai voiced his thoughts with a small smirk that almost didn't reach his tired eyes.

The Spaniard stuck out his tongue. "Very funny." He nodded to the burns. "So, want to explain why I spent hours worrying about you after I was separated from you when the ambulance came?"

Kai's eyes dimmed even more, and he turned back to the window. "Not particularly," he admitted.

Miguel sighed and moved behind the phoenix, wrapping his arms around the shoulders gently. "Please?" he whispered in the dark locks of the two-toned hair. He kissed the back of his lover's head.

The teen didn't speak for the longest time, trying to get his thoughts in order. "Kyler had me strapped down to a chair they used on him for shock therapy when the institution was still running. The wiring was not only programmed to go off on high levels of sound, it was also faulty. The first time, I was screaming at the man. I thought he had killed you. I saw the tapes..."

"Tapes?"

Kai nodded. "The guy had the mind-set of a child. He was fascinated with the idea of killing."

"Yeah, Dizzy filled me in on that after I came around."

"Where is she?"

"With Mr. Dickenson. Don't get off topic."

The Russian snorted a bit before continuing. "Well, it turns out he got the idea from horror movies. It looked like he'd been collecting for years. Each kill he made....was based off a horror movie. He had _The Bone Collector _playing when I woke up. I thought..."

The Spaniard couldn't suppress the shudder that ran through him. "Yeah, he tried."

"The rats?"

"Sewer rats, too."

Kai's eyes widened in fear. He turned around. "Are you alright?"

Miguel smiled softly at his lover. "I'm fine," he nodded. "Continue."

The phoenix searched his gargoyle's face for a bit before biting his lip. "I started yelling at Kyler, and that's when the first round hit. I figured it was set on volume because the television set was off, and Kyler was speaking softly. I-I thought you were dead....I-I-I...." He couldn't finish as he buried his face in Miguel's hospital gown. He tried to hold back the tears, but they came anyway, in rivers.

The Spaniard closed his eyes and dug his nose into the teen's hair, inhaling his scent. He held Kai closer. He had known. He knew Kai had inflicted the pain on himself in order to die. He had known. He just hadn't wanted to believe it.

"Kai," he breathed, squeezing his lover. His body trembled along with the phoenix's, neither wanting to continue that nightmare. They wanted to wake up. Someone had to wake them up.

They stayed like that for minutes on end before getting brave and pulling away, but not so far as to release the other. Sharing a kiss, they gave the other a hug. Kai turned back around so they both could gaze out at the rain.

"Mr. Dickenson said that they're going to have a funeral service for the others next week if I can get out of here," Kai muttered softly.

Miguel nodded against the other's neck, kissing it. He trailed more kisses along the back of the thin neck and all around. Hearing the other's moan awakened a fire inside him. He nipped along the collarbone and shoulders, barely recognizing that they both had bent over just perfectly, Kai's arms resting against the window sill, his gown slipping in the back. It wasn't one of those that wrapped all around. This had a slit down the back so incase Kai had another attack, they had easy access to his chest to deliver the right procedure needed, and Miguel loved it.

"I love these gowns," he moaned in the phoenix's ear, loving how his lover shivered delightfully.

"You would, deviant," the teen shuddered again. He groaned as those hot lips devoured his back, the warm hands going to their respective places. "You sure we should be doing this?"

"I locked the door."

Kai gasped as Miguel's hand gripped his shaft, his thumb teasing the sensitive skin. "Pervert," he accused again, lowering his head against the cool glass of the window. His fever returned, but not in the bad way. His gasps fogged up the window in time with Miguel's teasing his ear. He could feel his lover's growing erection against his bare backside as the Spaniard rubbed up against him, eliciting another moan.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are."

The teens stopped at the soft song, their arouses immediately calmed. Violet and sea blue orbs stared at the reflections in the window. There was them, slate hair and blonde, but another, shadowy, willowy figure stood a bit farther hiding behind the bathroom doorway. Something shone in the yellow and white fluorescent lights. The form, petite, hourly, raised the object to chest level and took another step towards the door. They still couldn't see the face, but as it neared the doorframe, the perpetrator became more clear.

"Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little star...."

The face appeared, scarred, grooved, brown eyes bright. A long, twisted smile stretched the thin cheeks. "How I wonder what you are."

-S-S-S-S-S-

Under the Bed

-End-

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Didn't think it was gonna end like that, did you? ^^

I wanted to upload this before I went on Spring Break next week. I just couldn't wait to get it up. ^^ Maybe there will be a sequel? Maybe not. Depends on who wants what, and if ya'll think it would fit. ^^

Well, I had fun writing this! I hope you had as much fun reading it. ^^ Thank you's go out to all who reviewed and favorited! ^^ Don't forget to review now, though! It's the last chapter! You have to review! I don't care what the others say. It's mandatory to review on the last chapter! ^^

Until next time.

Enjoy the rest of your day, but remember at night to not look under the bed.


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